Treasure
by dabbling
Summary: "Men come and go, but diamonds—" "Diamonds don't keep you warm at night." B/A angst - don't worry, I have a rule that the people I love can't die. Ed Green is in Major Case in this one, and he gets to have a little fun.
1. Chapter 1

"Men come and go, but diamonds—"

"Diamonds don't keep you warm at night."

Treasure

Chapter 1

Alex stared blankly at the print on the hospital room wall. It was a simple daisy, done by some fourth grader in an elementary school fund raising contest years ago. It was just a colorful outline, not even scribbled in, but it had an elegance about it.

She'd already studied the flower. Now she stared blankly at it, her mind replaying the words they'd exchanged all those years ago after solving their first case together. Now the words haunted her. Tears failed her and she rolled to one side, trying to quell the horrible ache in her heart. She saw the box lying on the tray table. She imagined his fingers wrapped easily around it as he stuffed it in his pocket.

_"Diamonds don't keep you warm at night."_

* * *

"She doesn't remember anything," Logan said. "It's pointless to put her through that again, you're only going to upset her." Logan's jaw was set, but he kept his voice calm. He'd learned a thing or two in his years with Major Case.

Detective Mark Perry turned to Captain Ross to mediate the dispute. Ross looked from one detective to the other. He took a deep breath. "All right, look. We're all too close to this. We need to step back, think of it like any other case."

"But it's not any other case, it's Eames!" Mike protested.

Ross raised his voice. "And Detective Logan is right. The doctors said her memories could return. We need to give her time, not badger her. She'll let us know when she remembers something." His jaw twitched and he looked back at Perry. "Any word on Goren yet?"

"Nothing. Whoever killed him must've dumped his body." Again, Perry's words raised Logan's fur. The taller Detective stomped over to stare out the Captain's window, again, holding his tongue.

Ross's glassy eyes turned to the younger man. "Until a body turns up, all options are open. Understood?"

Perry swallowed. "Yes sir. I meant no disrespect."

"Go get busy, Perry."

"Yes sir." Perry turned on his heel and left the room.

Ross walked over and gently closed his door. He looked at Logan's back until the man slowly turned to face him. "He's not dead, Captain."

"Logan, I know you want to believe that…"

"How can he be here one minute and gone the next?!"

"Logan, it happens every day. You've seen it thousands of times."

"But not Goren. Not to Bobby, it doesn't." Mike frowned when his eyes set on Perry through the office window. "And I'm sorry sir, but if that little prick keeps talking like that, I swear to God he's gonna find himself missing a few teeth."

"That's not going to help us find Bobby, Logan. You remember that."

Their eyes met one more time and Logan strode out of the room.

* * *

"Hi, Detective," he said, giving her a smile that couldn't possibly have been real.

Seeing him brought the tears back. She frowned and sputtered as they spilled down her cheeks.

Lewis lifted her carefully up and held her until her sobbing stopped. He didn't let his own tears fall. Finally, he eased her back onto her hospital bed. "I wish I could remember," she began, but he quieted her.

"There's nothing you could have done."

"We don't know that," she said.

"I know."

Her eyes searched his face. "How could you know?"

"I know you, Alex. And I know Bobby. And I know you both did everything you could. It just…" He swallowed hard. "It wasn't enough… this time."

The tears tried to come again, but she forced them back. She turned and saw the box on the table again.

"Have you looked at it yet?" he asked her quietly. Alex shook her head. "You should wear it, Alex. It was for you. He would want you to wear it."

"Diamonds don't keep you warm at night," she whispered.

Lewis ignored her and retrieved the box from the table. He opened the lid and held it where she could see.

Alex's face screwed up with pain again, but she forced herself to look at it. It was the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen. The delicate gold tapered as it neared the setting, and seemed to tie itself into a lover's knot, which firmly held the bright diamond.

"He would want you to wear it," Lewis said again.

Alex couldn't remove it from its place in the box yet. She touched it gently with the tips of her fingers and wondered about the conversations that must have taken place as he had it designed for her. It was all she had left, now. His final gesture of love for her. Gently, she plucked it free. She turned it over in her hand and finally slid it onto the third finger of her left hand.

It was beautiful, but it was a cold and lifeless circle around her skin. She looked up to see Lewis smiling sadly. "It was meant for you," Lewis said. "He would have wanted you to wear it."

She closed her eyes, leaving the cold ring on her finger. She concentrated on the dull throbbing of her head instead.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mike Logan stared at the crime scene photos again. Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair. He got to his feet and walked to the coffee pot, lost in his thoughts. A hand on his shoulder brought him back to his senses. He looked down and saw Detective Green standing there.

"6:00 tonight, at Lefty's." Green said. "We're gonna drink a few for Goren. You'll be there, right?"

Mike nodded soberly. "Wouldn't miss it."

Green patted his shoulder. "All right, man, see you then."

"Isn't that kind of hypocritical?" Perry asked from behind Logan. Mike felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "You won't accept that he's dead, but you're gonna go toast to his memory?"

Logan turned and glared at the smaller man. "People toast other people all the time, Perry. For example," Mike grinned, picking up his coffee cup, "I can toast to you right now." He raised his cup up a little higher. "To the most annoying little prick I've ever had to work with." Mike broke into a wide grin as he went to sip from his cup.

The coffee spilled all over him as Detective Perry knocked him to the floor. They wrestled vigorously, and even traded a couple of punches before their coworkers split them apart. The few criminals in the room were snickering.

Mike accepted a handkerchief from one of the guys and started dabbing it at the coffee that was dripping down his cheek and neck. Ed Green steered Mike down the hall into one of the vacant interrogation rooms. "You all right?" He asked.

"Shit," he muttered. "Burned myself," he said. "In more ways than one. I'm screwed when Cap finds out." Ed remained silent, and Logan finally looked up at him. "What?"

Green smiled. "Best toast I've heard in a long time," he said, and they shared a laugh.

The laughter subsided, and the soberness returned. "Ed," Logan began, "You've seen the crime scene photos, right?"

"Hasn't everybody?" He said.

"What do you think?"

Green shook his head. "Don't, man. Don't do this."

"It's so damn much blood."

"Logan?"

Mike looked up at him.

"Like you said, until we find a body…"

* * *

_I must be worse off than I thought._ Bobby Goren took an inventory of his symptoms, and besides the pain, the vertigo was very unsettling. He felt like he was lying on a waterbed and someone was purposefully bouncing on it to make waves.

He moaned and tried to move his foot. If he could just get his foot on the floor, maybe everything would stop moving. The pain was too much, though, and he couldn't move it far enough. He cried out, hoping someone could come and help him.

* * *

Logan raised his glass again, grateful for the heat that was rising up his neck. He gulped down another swallow and cheered along with his friends. When he turned his head to look at the assortment of cops along for this tribute, the room took a minute to catch up.

"Your turn, Logan. Give us a toast," one of the detectives said.

Logan got unsteadily to his feet. He raised his glass. "To Robert Goren," he began, "who really made me understand how fucking annoying it is when somebody's always right." They cheered and drank a toast to Bobby. "Get your ass back here, Bobby," Mike yelled, and drank again, draining his glass. He staggered out of the bar and headed back to 1PP.

"Logan, wait up!" Mike paused and turned back to see Ed jogging to meet him. "You had a few," Green said. "Where you headed?"

"I gotta see them again," Logan said.

"What?"

"The photographs. There's something there, I just can't see it." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and frowned. "Goren would see it. He'd pick the damn needle out of the haystack."

Ed took Mike's elbow and gave him a gentle shove. "C'mon man, I'll look at 'em with you."

* * *

"C'mon, sis," Liz said quietly as she escorted Alex back to her bed. "You're almost there," she said. "You should be home by this time tomorrow," she said, encouraging her.

Alex thought about her home, and how strange it would feel to be there. The last time she'd been home, Bobby had been there with her. Their dirty clothes were in the hamper together. Bobby's empty wine glass was probably still on the counter. She let Liz help her lie down and then closed her eyes. Alex didn't want to go home. She didn't want to stay here. She didn't want to be anywhere.

"Alex?"

She hadn't heard Liz saying her name at first. Alex turned her head and looked at her sister.

"How's your head?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

Alex shrugged.

"You're awfully quiet. Do you need the nurse or something?"

Alex sighed and shook her head slowly. She turned away from Liz and shut her eyes again.

"My God, Alex, that's a beautiful ring!" She tempered the excitement in her voice, realizing where the ring had come from. "Bobby got that for you, didn't he?"

Alex felt the ache welling up inside her chest. She nodded, hoping her sister wouldn't say anything more.

Liz realized it must be painful for Alex. "Beautiful," was her final comment.

* * *

The blood trail smeared across the boat's deck, up the bow and leading to the safety rail. Alex's blood had been found on the rail and on the hook of the crane used to lift the crab-pots. All of the other blood was attributed to Bobby. Elizabeth Rodgers had said it was possibly a head injury, or a major blood vessel had been cut. Without immediate intervention, it was unlikely Bobby survived.

Logan studied the picture again. "So, somebody creamed Alex with the hook, then she hit the rail and fell in?"

Green nodded. That's what the responders thought. Alex somehow stayed conscious and held herself up by clinging to that buoy there. Ed pointed to a buoy floating in the water not far from the starboard side of the vessel.

"Looks like Goren was dragged. Then tossed over?" Mike frowned. "But his body would have turned up. There's not enough current there to whisk him out to sea."

"It's the only thing that looks right, though," Ed said.

"Hey wait a minute," Mike said, straightening up. "What if Goren wasn't dragged this way, but this way?" Mike pointed in the opposite direction.

"They dragged him onto the boat? Why?"

"Maybe trying to help him?"

"That's a stretch, pal."

"All right, what about this? Another boat up here," he said, tapping the picture where the trail of blood ended. "They got him off this boat and onto another one."

"Let's talk to Daniels and see for sure which direction that blood trail went."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"No doubt in my mind," Daniels said over his morning coffee. "It definitely led off the boat. We even got a partial shoeprint in it, facing this way, like somebody was dragging him and had to reposition to be able to lift him over the rail." He pointed at the picture with the eraser on his pencil.

Logan sat quietly a moment. "Any way they put him on another boat?"

Daniels considered it. "It's possible, but they were long gone by the time we got there. Eames—"

"She wouldn't have made it, I know."

"How's she doing?"

"They're supposed to send her home today," Mike said, because it was true, but knowing it didn't really answer the question.

"Good, good," Daniels said.

"Logan, Perry!" Ross called from his doorway.

Logan set the crime scene photo down and slowly stood. He scratched his head and headed for his Captain's office. They met in the doorway with a bitter glance.

Ross was furious. He gestured to the single chair and told Mike, "Have a seat."

"I'd prefer to stand, sir," Mike said, already assuming his on-the-carpet attitude. Perry sank into the seat before Ross had the chance to turn it into a power struggle.

"Do you know who informed me about your little… argument… yesterday?" Both Detectives were silent. "Not one of my detectives. Not one of you." He stared from one to the other, then continued. "Chief Moran. And he found out from the DA's office, who found out from a lawyer whose client witnessed the event right here in our house!"

"Sorry," Mike said.

"Damn right you're sorry, Logan. Didn't I just tell you yesterday-?"

"I'm sorry, Detective Perry." Mike turned and looked down at the man in the chair. "Like Cap said, I'm a little too close to this. I let my emotions get the better of me. Sorry."

Detective Perry was stunned. He'd heard the stories about Mike Logan, and he'd never heard once that the man apologized after dropping a fist on somebody. "Well, you know, you did burn me pretty good," Perry joked. "Captain, I'm the one that started it, really," he said. "I guess I couldn't take a joke."

"Let me make something very clear." Ross leaned forward, pressing his fingertips against the desktop. "I'm not going to take another 'joke' like this very well. You men find a way to do your jobs without this adolescent behavior, or someone will find themselves on the Staten Island ferry." He tossed a knowing look at Logan when he made his threat.

"Understood, sir," Logan said. "No hard feelings, Perry?" Mike said, offering his hand.

"Sure, we're good," Perry said, shaking it. The two walked out of the office together.

Mike invited Perry to join him at his desk. Mike flopped into the chair, picked up the crime scene photo, and gave Perry a warning finger before he showed it to him. "_Without_ mentioning that Bobby may be dead, tell me what you see."

Perry paused before he spoke, not something he was accustomed to doing. He looked carefully. "The trail of blood leads to the rail."

"All right, so what happened to him?"

"They tossed him overboard."

"What if they didn't?" Mike asked. "What if they tossed him overboard, into another boat?"

"Where the hell would it be?"

"Cameras. Somebody on the dock has a security camera. We need to canvass down there, see what we can find." Mike stood and downed the rest of his coffee. He looked back. "You coming?"

"Sure, yeah," Perry mumbled, stunned by the turnaround in Logan's attitude.

* * *

"Okay, here you go," Liz said as Alex walked in. "Make yourself comfortable. You want a coffee or something?"

The ache in her chest was back. Alex stood with her arms folded, and scanned her living room. His magazine was tossed on her coffee table. The reading lamp shade was turned the way he liked it. She could see into the kitchen. His wine glass was still on the counter. The sobs welled up inside her again, and she fought them down.

"Alex?" Liz asked from the kitchen. She put the coffee filters down and hurried in to be with her sister. She opened her arms and Alex leaned against her, her chest heaving with the effort not to cry. "I know, I know, honey," Liz whispered into her ear.

"I've just got to…" Alex began. "I've got to… people go on, all the time… Oh, Liz!" Again, she fought back the wave of tears. "I loved him."

* * *

The motion seemed to have slowed. Bobby moaned softly. His arms and legs seemed like leaden weights. His head lay like a boulder, and he knew he didn't have the strength to help himself. He fought and managed to open his eyes a slit.

It was some kind of bedroom. He was alone. He called out again, his voice weak and dry. He listened for a response, for anything. All he heard was the splashing of waves and the occasional call of a seabird.

As he leaned his head, trying to force it to move, he felt something against the corner of his lips. He pushed again, and felt it with his lips. A tube of some kind. The tip was at his lips. He wrapped his mouth around it and sucked lightly, rewarded by a splash of water on his tongue. Bobby sipped again, as his brain tried to make sense of it all. Someone was helping him… but where were they?

* * *

They stood on the slip where the boat had been before being impounded. This was the public dock. Boats could slip in and out here for free, so long as they didn't stay overnight. Mike turned in a slow circle, taking in the rest of the area. Not far away, he saw a yacht moored beside a sailboat. He started to walk in that direction. Those ships would be protected. They would have paid slips, and they would have security systems. Perry followed at his heels.

A gate swung across the dock leading to the private slips. Mike rang the buzzer beside its lock and waited while an old man limped over to greet him. "He'p ya?" The old man said. He was an old sea dog, with one leg shorter than the other, his lined face revealing his missing teeth.

Both detectives flashed their shields. "You know there was an… event over there last week," Mike said, gesturing in the direction of the scene. "We'd like to know if anybody has security cameras that might have caught something."

Perry pointed to the huge yacht at his left, which had a security camera prominently displayed on the roof of the cockpit in easy view. "Like maybe that one," he said.

"Oh, them folks is gone to the city right now." He unlocked the gate and motioned for them to enter. "Come on in, I'll look up their number."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Alex," he whispered. _What happened to Alex?_

Bobby tried to remember. They were separated, Alex was on the bow, and he was inside the cabin with the killer and two others. Bobby had tried to talk him down, but the killer drew the long knife and screamed angrily in Chinese. His lunge was aimed for the man's abdomen, but when Bobby stepped in the way, the knife sliced into his leg. Bobby collapsed on the floor, unaware of anything else, until he woke up here.

_Alex…Alex was out on the deck. They must have made us as cops… she wasn't safe out there with the crewmen. Oh, God, Alex, what happened to you?_

As distraught as he was, Bobby still couldn't muster the strength to move. He reached his lips toward the water tube and sucked, only to find it had gone dry. He called out for help. Maybe the person who helped him was still around here somewhere.

* * *

The Detectives couldn't help but admire the layout of the yacht as they were led inside. The man was a wall street wizard, made his fortune and retired at 40. He was young and very comfortable with his affluence. They followed him down the spiral stairs, carved of cherry wood, and stepped onto the lower deck, also slats of solid cherry. He invited them to sit on the couch while he retrieved the data they needed.

At last he used a remote to slide back the solid wood cover, revealing a monstrous flat screen tv. "Here, let's see if this is the right one," he said. He played the video, which showed nothing more than boats sitting silently on the dock. He fast forwarded it in small jumps, until they could very clearly see a figure jump overboard.

"My God, it is on there," the man said. "Let me write down the file name for you," he said as he hurriedly scribbled on a piece of paper. "Just… take the whole thing. Maybe there's something else on there that you can use," he said as he disconnected the external hard drive and handed it to Perry, along with the name of the file they were looking for.

"Thank you," Mike said, shaking his hand. "You've been a big help."

* * *

Alex was sore and tired. Her bruises had faded, but her head was still aching and it was an effort to get up and do anything. None of it compared to the ache in her chest, however.

Liz forced her to shower and dress, and that took her mind off him for a while, but nothing could keep thoughts of him from invading her thoughts completely. In glancing around her apartment, she was bombarded by images of him: Standing there, reading that book, eating, talking on the phone, rubbing her feet…

Alex sighed quietly so her sister wouldn't notice. When Joe had died, it had hurt, but it wasn't the same as this. When Joe died, she'd seen his bloody body, held his cold hand in her fingers, kissed his stony lips. Now, Bobby was gone. That was it. He was just… gone.

* * *

"This is a much as we could get it enhanced," Hollings said and he pushed 'play' on the machine.

Ross, Logan, Perry, Green, Daniels, and anyone else who'd heard about the video stood in the viewing room, stiff and silent.

They saw Bobby willingly walk into the cabin with three others. They saw Alex making smalltalk with the deck crew, glancing periodically in the direction Bobby had gone. They saw her look of alarm, and her failed attempt to draw her weapon as one of the hands slammed the hook hard against her head.

Alex fell to her hands and knees. They saw a man walk out, holding a gun on the deck hands, who had chased Alex to the rail of the ship. They watched as the other man drug Bobby, his pants soaked with blood, across the deck. A ship stopped beside them and they handed Bobby down and then the hostage crew. One of the men was speaking to Alex. She shook her head, climbed the rail, and jumped into the water. Shortly after, the second ship moved away.

The end of the tape was met with silence. At last, Ross turned to Hollings. "Okay, you've seen every detail of this thing. What did you pick up?"

Hollings took a deep breath. He wasn't accustomed to being asked his opinion. He was the guy that enhanced the video; he wasn't a detective. "Uh, Captain, I think that was Detective Goren's gun that small guy had in his hand. And I think if they wanted to hurt Eames, they could have." He swallowed and continued. "This video gives me hope that Detective Goren is alive. I don't think they would have bothered with him unless they wanted him alive."

"I agree, Cap," Mike said loudly. "Hollings, did you see any markings on that other boat that we can use to find her?"

"No, but I think if you found somebody who knew boats, they could give you the make and model."

"So what happened to all those other hostages?" Green asked.

"They appear to be Asian," Ross said. Goren and Eames were investigating a murder that brushed pretty close to one of the Tongs.

"That's the vic we found in the boat," Daniels said. "The perp from Goren & Eames' investigation. He was a hit man for one of the tongs."

"Anything could have happened to those guys," Logan said. "Coulda dumped 'em at sea, sold 'em into slavery, anything."

"I did pick up some tattoo images on a couple of the hands, I could print stills for you," Hollings said.

"Right, do that," Ross said. "Logan, Perry, you're looking for the boat. Daniels, Green, I want you to start searching for the missing crew."

Everyone left except Ross, Logan, and Perry. "I need to see it again," Logan said.

Ross clicked the button and started the video over again.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was a strange thing about detective work: One minute, you were moving at a snail's pace, waiting to hear from one source or another, everything contingent on the contact and the message received. The next minute, you were so busy you didn't have time to eat, running from one place to another, phones ringing off the hook.

With the addition of the video evidence, there was suddenly a surge of activity in the case. It seemed like the whole squad was helping out, in one way or another.

Mike got the make and model of the ship they were looking for and alerted the coast guard, among others. He was now digging into the file regarding the case Eames and Goren had been working, learning more about who was in that cabin with Bobby.

* * *

Lewis knocked on the door at a quarter past 12, carrying a bag in his left hand. "Are you up for some company?" He asked her, and she stepped out of the way to let him in.

Somehow, Alex didn't mind when Lewis came around. She knew they were all trying to help, but they all got on her nerves. Except for Lewis. She supposed because he loved Bobby as much as she did, and knew him as well. "What's that?" She asked him.

"Uh, just some cards. I thought maybe we could play a few hands."

"That's a pretty big bag for a deck of cards," she said.

Lewis' face was blank a moment, then he smiled. "Detective Alex," he said. "Welcome back."

He sat down at the kitchen table and opened the bag, withdrawing a scale model of Bobby's mustang. "I was going to give it to him for his birthday," Lewis said. "Now I thought maybe you should have it."

"Oh, Lewis," she said. "You should keep it. You and Bobby worked on that car together."

"Well," he said, pushing his glasses up on his nose, "You keep it for a week or so, and then I'll take it back."

* * *

Logan's desk phone rang at shortly after 1. He downed the last bite of his burger and picked it up. "Logan," he said.

"Detective Logan, this is Captain Ron Peavey, US Coast Guard. I wanted to inform you that we have a visual on the vessel you described."

Mike sat up and wiped the mayonnaise from his lips. "Just a minute, Captain Peavey, I need to put you on speaker with my Captain. He needs to hear this." He put the call on hold and sprinted to Ross' office, barging in while knocking. Perry ran at his heels.

"Captain, Coast Guard on line 3," he said urgently.

Ross punched the buttons to make it a conference call. "This is Captain Danny Ross, Major Case. I'm here with Detective Logan and Detective Perry."

"Hello, Captain, I'm Captain Ron Peavey, US Coast Guard. We have a visual on the vessel you described. It is not responding to hails, and appears to be adrift. At this point, I am initiating a search and rescue mission."

"Thank you, Captain."

"We'll keep you informed." After a moment of exchanging the proper phone extensions, Ross ended the call and looked over at his detectives. Mike was chewing a hangnail on the side of his thumb.

"Now we wait," Ross said.

* * *

"Alex," Lewis said over the cards in his hand. "Have you heard anything?"

She shook her head. "If they knew anything, Logan would call me."

"I always knew the job was dangerous, but… Bobby never talked about it, you know?"

Alex nodded.

"And he's got a good head on his shoulders. I can't tell you how many times his quick thinking saved my ass." Lewis looked away, then slowly turned back to her. "Alex, do you really think…?"

"Lewis, don't." The look on his face was heartbreaking. She sighed, and knew she had to give him some kind of answer. "You know, in police work, the longer someone is missing, the less likely…" Her own pain welled up and she couldn't finish the sentence. "And the blood," she finally added. "It was a lot of blood."

"Mike didn't say Bobby was—"

She blinked back the tears and swallowed. "Mike can't say it, just like I can't say it."

Lewis nodded and cleared his throat. His voice was raspy when he spoke again. "I sure didn't expect this," was all he said. They continued their card game in silence.

* * *

When Ross answered the phone, he hastily went to the door and waved his detectives in. Perry shut the door behind him as Ross transferred the call to speaker.

"Can you hear me, Captain Peavey?"

"Yes, fine," he said. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right. My men have completed their mission. There was one person aboard, a male, looks to be about 50 years old. He's in bad shape. We've airlifted him to the Navy hospital in Annapolis. We found no identification on him, no identifying marks."

"Thank you, Captain. I'm putting Detective Logan on a plane right away." He nodded to Mike, who sprinted out of the room. "Mr. Perry will take care of the details of transferring the vessel to our impound. Thank you so much for your help."

"Glad to do it, Captain Ross. Have a good day."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Logan hurried through the halls of the hospital. It had taken a little talking, but he finally found someone who knew what was going on and directed him to ICU and the room the "John Doe" was in.

Mike recognized him even before he stepped into the room. He told the nurse, who noted it in the file and stepped into the hall to make his calls. "Alex," he said. "We found Bobby."

* * *

He was fighting for his life. Mike answered the questions of the staff as best he could, but he knew very little of Goren's medical history. He hoped Alex would know more.

Bobby was in what they called hypovolemic shock. He'd lost a lot of blood and then become dehydrated while drifting at sea in that boat. The nurses told him Bobby should have been dead, except someone had performed a sloppy surgery on his leg wound. He would have scars, but it had stopped the bleeding and saved his life. Now they were trying to replenish the blood he'd lost, rehydrate him, and keep him from going into kidney failure.

Mike Logan was worried. His initial relief at finding him had been quickly consumed by fear as he watched the hospital staff scramble back and forth replacing bags, checking his heart monitor, checking his urine output in the bag on the side of the bed. Bobby was still very much in danger.

He checked his watch. Lewis and Alex should be somewhere in town by now. He hoped they would arrive soon.

* * *

Perry frowned. The word had already gotten around the squad room, and they were all grateful for the good news. He was at a standstill, though. He had to wait for the Coast Guard to tow the boat back to shore, then he could run it as a crime scene. That is, _if_ everything wasn't already compromised by whatever they'd done during their search and rescue mission. Rather than bring the ship to Maryland and transferring it to a truck to bring it to New York, the Coast Guard had agreed to tow it directly to New York Harbor. So Mark Perry was left to sit on his hands until his crime scene arrived.

* * *

Lewis walked Alex into the room, and Mike stepped out of the way. She raised her hand to her mouth, her other arm wrapped tightly around her stomach. Mike and Lewis stood on either side of her, and when she swayed, they each caught an elbow.

They gently lowered her into the chair.

"Alex?" Mike asked.

She shuddered. "I think I just remembered something," she said. She held onto their hands as she wrestled with the images in her mind.

Logan looked at her expectantly. Finally, she looked up at him and shook her head. "Nothing helpful," she said. "Just… snapshots… in my mind. They drug him out on the deck… the blood…"

Mike nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. The three stared at Bobby and wondered if he was getting any better.

* * *

Daniels and Green walked the streets of Chinatown, stopping into every place they could find that had anything to do with the fishing industry. They showed pictures of the men's tattoos.

Most people shook their heads and denied knowing anything; others explained the symbolism of the tattoos, but denied knowing who wore them. The two men stopped at a food stand for dinner and stood on the street corner, eating out of cardboard boxes.

"They know, but they're too scared to tell."

Green nodded in agreement. "Shift strategies?"

"Yeah."

"Let's hit the tattoo joints."

"All right."

* * *

Alex sat beside him the whole evening. Lewis brought her some dinner, but she barely touched it. Lewis left her alone with Bobby and went down the hall to the waiting room to talk with Mike.

"How's she doing?" Mike asked him.

"Better, I guess," Lewis said. "I mean, she's not as down as she was."

Logan nodded. "He'll pull through."

Lewis agreed. "He always does." Logan went back to Bobby's room and Lewis stretched out on the couch in the waiting area.

"Alex," Mike said as he walked up behind her. "I, uh… I have to go back in the morning."

"Thanks, Mike. For everything."

"Promise me you'll get some rest."

She looked at Bobby, then back at Mike. Alex nodded.

"All right," Logan said. He kissed her head. "Good night." He gave Bobby another glance, and left the room.

* * *

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, Bobby awoke. His groggy mind caught a glimpse of Alex, head crooked to one side, sleeping uncomfortably in a chair. He stared at her a long time.

"You're awake!" Lewis whispered excitedly. "Hi, Buddy." He patted his friend's forearm.

Bobby blinked and shifted his focus to Lewis. He licked his lips and said, in a whisper, "She needs a bed."

Lewis grinned. "I'll take care of it. Bobby, I… I gotta tell the nurses you're awake. They said to tell them."

He nodded and went back to staring at Alex. He stayed awake long enough to answer a few of the nurse's questions, then dozed off again.

Lewis sighed and finally allowed a tear to fall from his eye. Alex would be upset that she missed it, but she would be happy, too. Maybe he would wake for her in the morning.

* * *

Mike Logan carried the bottle between two fingers and held his glass in the other hand. He walked across the hotel room, set the bottle on the nightstand, and climbed into the bed, glass in hand. He flipped the channel on the tv and stopped at a baseball game.

He looked at the screen, but he thought about Bobby. Dumb luck. That's what it was. And thank God for whoever saved Bobby's life. Mike refilled his glass, raised it, and drank a toast to that unknown soul.

He finished off the bottle and fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Although Logan did not get to see Bobby awake before he headed for the airport, he was glad to hear what had transpired in the night. And even more encouraging, the staff said he was improving.

Mike said goodbye to all three of his friends and headed back home, a new fire propelling him forward. Lewis had promised to keep him posted on Alex; Alex had promised to keep him posted on Bobby. Satisfied with the arrangements, he boarded the plane.

* * *

Alex rubbed her sore neck and paced the room. Lewis rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned. "You have to sleep in a bed tonight. I promised Bobby you would," Lewis said.

She turned and glared at him, but her heart wasn't in it. Besides, if her neck was going to hurt like this, she wouldn't be any good to anybody in the daytime.

"I'm going to go get some sleep," Lewis said. "Call me when he wakes again."

"Okay," she agreed. She walked Lewis walk out and a nurse walked in.

The woman measured the volume of urine in Bobby's bag and replaced it with a new one. She noted the amount in the log. Before she left the room. "This is very good," she said. "His kidneys are starting to work again."

Alex found herself breathing easier. He didn't wake for another hour, though. She grinned at him like a schoolgirl with a crush.

"Are… are you all right?" He asked.

She tapped the bandage on her forehead. "This? It's nothing, really. Just a bump."

"They made us," Bobby said.

"You remember? 'Cause I don't remember."

"Only some," Bobby answered. "Just… you… alone."

"Hey," she whispered, and put her hand against the skin of his jaw, "It's okay. It's all okay, now."

He managed a small smile, and contented himself to stare at her until sleep took him again. Alex happily called Lewis.

"H'lo?" He mumbled into the phone, his voice thick with sleep.

"Lewis, Bobby was awake again. Just for a few minutes."

"Oh! Good!" He said, and added, "What did he say?"

"Nothing much. He remembers that night we boarded the boat." Alex paused. "Look, go back to sleep. You were up all night."

"'Kay," he mumbled and she heard him drop the phone before he hung it up properly.

Alex sat down in the chair again and looked at the ring on her left hand. It was easy to look at, now. Instead of a remembrance… an ending; it was now a symbol of hope for the future.

* * *

Perry had scored a few brownie points with his colleagues last night. Since he couldn't move on his own side of the case, he worked with Hollings and went back through the surveillance files. He found three instances of the mystery boat docking near the original crime scene. They were able to print a few clear pictures of the deck hands they were looking for.

He dropped the pictures in front of Daniels and sat back, waiting for an "attaboy."

Without a word, Daniels slid the photographs over to Green, who looked at them and said simply, "Thanks."

Mark felt like they'd just hoisted him over their shoulders at the end of the big game. He started to walk away, but Daniels called him back.

"You wanna follow through on this with us?" He asked.

Perry checked his watch. "No, I can't. My crime scene should be here in another hour."

* * *

Mark shook the hands of the soldiers who turned the ship over to his custody, thanking them for their work. He looked over his shoulder at the photographer and then up at the boat. Small in comparison to the Coast Guard Cutter; it wasn't small compared to a man.

"Seen CSU yet?" He asked the photographer.

Technically, the photographer was part of the CSU team, but since their best work was done before too many people were on site, they often showed up first. He looked over at the detective, who'd obviously forgotten this. "My guys are on their way," he said.

They headed down to dock to the spot they'd seen the Coast Guard men depart the ship. The photographer snapped a few pictures, then Mark gloved up and made the jump onto the ship. He leaned back and held the other man's camera while he jumped aboard.

The photographer replaced his gear and started snapping away. Mark's eyes watched the deck first. As he neared the steps that led to the lower compartment, he called, "Blood."

The photographer snapped pics while Mark stepped over it and walked carefully down the steps.

The steps spilled into the galley, which was small but functional. It reminded him of his Mother's camper. The galley was clean, and all the foodstores, utensils, and cabinets were secure. He moved past the galley to crew quarters. The room had several bunk beds, in various stages of disarray. This room held potential for his investigation, but would take some time to go through. He decided to postpone it and get an overview of the ship instead.

The photographer stayed and shot the room while Mark moved down the hall to the Captain's quarters. It was in this room that he saw evidence of Bobby's presence. The room held a double bed and had a long, low built in dresser. There was a large closet beside the bed. Mark saw a water bag on the mattress, the kind people take on backpacking trips. The tube leading from it was missing its top. He slid open the closet doors and found a laundry sack inside. Opening it, he found sheets and towels stained with blood.

He heard voices, and paused in his work to go greet the rest of the CSU team.

* * *

Logan stood in Ross' office, still wearing yesterday's crumpled suit. "He's in bad shape, Captain, but they seemed to think he'll pull through."

"And Eames?" Ross asked.

"She's there. Lewis brought her down yesterday. She's okay, as far as I can tell."

"Go home, get some rest. You can catch up on things around here later."

Mike turned to leave, already deciding he would be back after a shower and a clean suit.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ed Green looked at the bulletin board he'd just organized. He had several photographs pinned up, of the crewmen from Goren & Eames' crime scene. One photo was pinned with a close-up of the tattoo pinned on top of it. That one was labeled with a question mark.

Another 2 photographs were pinned up in the same way: full person and close up of the tattoo. This one did have a name: Nathan Lee. The third photograph had no close up and was labeled with a question mark.

Daniels came in and looked at it. "Hell of a lot of work for just one name," he said.

"You find anything?"

Daniels handed over a piece of paper. "Everything since he came over in 2006. I called the gang unit. We're gonna need a translater, might as well be somebody who knows who he's talking to."

"Who are they sending over?" Ed asked.

"Damned if I know."

* * *

Bobby had continued to improve throughout the day. The doctor gave Alex the impression that he might be moved from ICU as soon as tomorrow. The transfusion would be complete tonight, and then they would monitor him until morning.

After dinner with Lewis, Alex went to the hotel to get some sleep. She planned to stay only long enough for a good nap, then head back to be with Bobby during the night. Before climbing in bed, she realized it was time she called Logan.

"Yeah," he said when the phone rang.

"Hi, Mike."

"Alex. Is Bobby okay?"

She updated him on his status, and then nervously bit the end of her thumbnail. "My memory came back," she said quietly.

"That's good," he said, but she could tell he was treading carefully. Mike didn't want to push her too hard.

"Uh, did you read our case file?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, so you know Chang was the one we were after that night. Bobby was convinced he could get information out of him. So we agreed to meet him on the ship. Thing was, Lin was there, too. He'd sniffed Chang out, he knew he was going to turn on him."

Alex took a deep breath. "When we got on the boat, they acted like everything was as planned. Bobby went in the cabin with them; as a woman, if I'd have gone, it would have hindered our progress. So I stayed out on deck, asking questions about fishing like some kind of tourist. I was worried about Bobby. One of the deck hands came out from below and said something in Chinese and the next thing I knew, they clobbered me with that hook."

"Do you know that guy's name?" Mike asked.

"No. He wasn't on our radar."

Alex continued. "They shoved me over to the starboard side and punned me against the rail. That's when I saw Chang come out with a gun. He got the deck hands to back off and kept yelling at me in Chinese. Then I saw Bobby."

She took a deep breath and ran her hand through her hair. "Mike…"

"It's okay Alex."

"No. I need to tell it." She took another deep breath. "I was scared," she admitted. "I thought Bobby was dead. There was no color in his face, and the blood was everywhere, I knew they'd cut an artery or something. No way would he have let them handle him like that without a fight."

She frowned. "I knew they wanted me to jump onto that other ship, but one guy grabbed my wrist and I just…"

"You had a concussion, Alex. You couldn't have thought clearly if you'd wanted to."

"I should have gone with him."

"You did the best you could."

Alex's eyes went to her feet. "You'll have to put it in your report."

"Not that part I don't." Mike sighed, too. "Look, Eames. You had a fucking head injury. You were outnumbered, it was dark, you saw what they did to Bobby… When that guy grabbed you, you just reacted. You didn't think."

"I should have. Maybe Bobby wouldn't have—"

"You don't know that. If you'd gone with them, you mighta ended up feeding the sharks. You don't know. As far as we know, Bobby was only left behind because they thought he was dead. None of the others have been found."

Mike paused, and her silence gnawed at him. "Look, you can blame yourself all you want, but you and Bobby are both alive, and you don't know it would have worked out any better if you'd gone with him."

Again, he was met with silence on the other end of the line. "You know what? If Bobby holds a grudge about it, then I'll join him. Otherwise, I'm leaving it be."

"Simple as that, huh?" She muttered.

"Let Bobby be your judge." Again, she was silent. Mike checked his watch. "Look, Alex, I gotta go. You're all right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said.

"Get some rest. And call me later." She said a polite goodbye and Mike ended the call. Aggravated, he called Lewis.

"Hello?" Lewis answered.

"Hey, Lewis, it's Logan. I just spoke with Alex."

* * *

Ross called out into the bullpen for Green and Daniels. They stood up and walked to his office, where they found he'd been talking to a very sexy woman. She wore a skirt suit and heels, like so many of the women from the DA's office. Her black hair was long and smooth and hung halfway down her back.

"Boys," Ross said. "I'd like you to meet Meredith Shu."

They both shook her hand politely, and turned back to the captain expectantly. He looked from one to the other, then said, "I thought you needed her input?"

"Sir?" Ed stammered.

"Detective Shu is from the gang unit," he said.

"Oh! Uh, come on out here, uh, we can fill you in," Green said. Daniels opened the door for her and almost tripped over himself as he followed her out the door.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Detective Shu, uhm, sorry about the mix-up," Green said. "I was under the impression they were sending someone else."

She humored him. "Look, I've got things to do. Let's just get this over with, okay?"

It was Daniels' turn to speak. He opened the door of the interview room with Green's new bulletin board up. She walked straight up to the pictures.

"This is it?" She asked.

"No, this is just our part of it. You see," Ed explained, "Goren and Eames—"

"Alex Eames?" Meredith said.

"Yeah, do you know her?"

"Not many women make it this far up in the department. Of course I know her."

"Well, you've heard what happened?" Daniels asked.

She blinked and waited to hear.

Green continued the story. "Goren and Eames were investigating Danny Lin, and they set up a meeting with a guy named Chang, and he was going to give them something on Lin. So Lin apparently turned up. Everything went to hell, Bobby got stabbed, Alex ended up clinging to a buoy all night with a concussion, and the Coast Guard just rescued Bobby from another ship yesterday."

"Lin got killed," she said.

"Yeah. He was the only one left on the boat where it all went down."

She shook her head. "So who's this?"

"Some of the deck hands that night. We don't know what happened to them, or their level of involvement."

"How is she?" Shu asked.

The two Major Case detectives traded a look. "She's been released from the hospital. Should be okay."

"And her partner?"

"He's not out of the woods yet," Daniels said.

"Lin was a hit man. Eames and Goren were right to go after him. This fellow Chang, I think you're talking about Jin Chang." She sat down in a chair, and the two men did the same. "Jin Chang is a young… entrepreneur. His father did well, with the protection of the tong, and has been turning over more and more of the family business to his son in the past few years. Jin has maintained their fishing business, but has started to dabble in something else…"

"What?" Daniels asked.

"Treasure," she said. "He's created a salvage company and gotten a start picking gold coins out of shipwrecks."

"Legal?"

She shrugged. "So far. As far as we can tell. Things get muddy out there. International waters, and the constant claims by the finders versus the nations who originally lost the ship… but it seems legal so far." Her eyes strayed back to the bulletin board. "So what do you want with these guys?"

"To find out what happened to them," Daniels said. "They may be dead."

* * *

Logan joined Perry in time to do a quick walkthrough before they sent the ship to impound. "Jesus Christ," he muttered under his breath. He turned to Mark. "The doc said somebody did a surgery on Goren's leg… and it saved his life." He looked around. "Did surgery on a boat that was rolling with the waves. Can you imagine?"

"Logan, somebody was trying to take care of him. Look at the water flask on the bed."

"Why would they abandon him?"

"Maybe they had no choice."

* * *

The next morning, Bobby was moved out of ICU. Alex and Lewis chatted happily about the new room and made plans for a new day. Their conversation woke him, and he turned his head to look at them.

Alex dropped her left hand on his chest and kissed him on the lips. Bobby smiled at her. He managed to put his right hand over hers, and felt the ring on her finger.

"You're wearing it?" He asked. She answered him with a nod and a smile. Bobby's face betrayed how weary he was, but his eyes had their familiar spark again. "Who gave it to you?" he pressed.

Lewis, never one to pass up an opportunity to tease his lifelong friend, stepped forward and put his arm around Alex's shoulders. "Well, you see, Bobby, we didn't know where you were, and so… I made my move."

Alex's elbow scored a hit between his 4th and 5th ribs, and he dropped his arm, laughing. Bobby laughed too. He looked back at Alex. "But you're wearing it?" He asked.

"Of course."

"What does it mean?"

"Doesn't it mean what I think it means?"

"I never asked you yet."

"So ask."

"In front of _him_?" Bobby said, glancing at Lewis.

She shrugged. "We'll probably get married in front of him, too, so why not?"

Bobby smiled. "Alex, will you?" He gently rubbed the tips of her fingers that were already resting in his hand.

She leaned down and kissed him, giving his hand a firm squeeze. "Of course."

He maintained his smile for as long as he could manage to stay awake.

* * *

Detective Green rolled into the squad room at 10. A little later than usual, but he, Daniels, and Shu had been out till one in the morning hitting the nightlife in Chinatown.

He tossed his notebook down on his desk and headed for the coffee pot.

"Hey," Logan said, as he topped off his own cup.

"Hey." Ed rubbed his eyes.

"Late night?"

"You could say that. Made some headway, though. How's Bobby?"  
"Eames said he's out of ICU."

"Awesome." Ed filled his cup and dropped a generous helping of sugar into it. He stirred it with a little wooden stick. "We got a few names. Looks like these guys were hunting sunken treasure or some shit."

"Once we get the lab reports, we'll know what happened to Bobby." Mike sipped his coffee. "You guys want a hand? We shouldn't hear anything until this afternoon."

Ed dropped the stick into the garbage can and drank half the cup down in one gulp. "Sounds great. Meet you in interview 7." He turned and went back to his desk.

* * *

A/N I'm losing steam. Could use some reviews about now! Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N Thanks for the reviews! The feedback was helpful!

* * *

Chapter 10

Ed Green pinned the names up next to the photographs of the men on the bulletin board. Logan and Daniels sat back, studying the information.

"This one," Daniels said, pointing, "Shu said his family hasn't heard from him. They're worried."

Mike nodded.

"And this guy," Green explained, "He called his girlfriend and told her he got a job that will last for a couple of months."

Logan cocked his head, and Green elaborated, "He called her _after_ Goren was taken."

"So let's track him down," stated Mike.

"Unless you can walk on water, that's a lot harder than it sounds. Nobody's heard from him since, and he doesn't answer his cell."

"Seems like his girlfriend would be worried about that," Logan said.

"She said it happens all the time when he's working at sea. They're either out of range of a signal, or his battery died or something."

"All right, so if they're after a sunken ship or something, who are they working for?"

"That," Daniels said, "we do have figured out." He opened up his notebook and showed Logan the name. "Don't ask me what it says, Shu wrote it down for me."

Logan studied the Chinese characters on the paper.

"She told us she would follow up on it and give us a call," Green explained.

"What the hell," Mike muttered, scratching his head. "So they were taken from the first boat, put on a second, then abandoned that one for a third? This is crazy."

"Or they were taken onto the second boat and dumped in the ocean."

* * *

"We're going to start you on a stronger antibiotic, hopefully that will take care of the problem." Perched on the side of Bobby's bed, the doctor looked from Bobby to Alex and then Lewis.

Bobby blinked a few times and stretched his left hand towards his leg, then thought better of it. "What if it doesn't?" He asked quietly.

The doctor sighed. "We'll give it some time, but if the infection continues, we may have to amputate."

Bobby's mouth screwed up and he chewed on his bottom lip. Alex dropped her hand on his shoulder. "But you think this will work, right?" She asked.

The doctor nodded. "We're very hopeful." He turned his head back to look at Bobby as he stood up. "Mr. Goren, I'll send the order and we'll get that started right away."

Bobby nodded, eyes shut. The doctor nodded in encouragement to everyone and left the room. Alex slipped her right hand into Bobby's left as Lewis got up and started pacing.

"It'll be fine," Lewis said. "You're not going to lose your leg, Bobby." When his friend refused to respond, Lewis got frustrated and walked right out of the room.

Bobby avoided eye contact with Alex. He turned his head the other way. They both watched as the nurse brought in the new medicine and attached it so it would flow through the tube right into his vein. When she had gone again, Bobby frowned and he shifted uncomfortably in his bed.

"Bobby?" was all Alex said.

"Hurts." He complained.

She knew it was true. The last time they'd changed his dressing, she'd seen his leg. It was swollen and red and even the slightest touch had brought tears to his eyes. It was a miracle he didn't complain more.

* * *

"Okay, I got the scoop on Nathan Lee." Logan dropped his notebook and a couple of faxed papers onto the table. "US citizen, since he was about 9. He grew up right here in the city. Some trouble in high school, nothing major. Works as a crewman on any ship he can find. He's been working for Chang for the last 3 seasons. LUDS show nothing since before boat number 1."

"However," Mike added, "He is in the habit of using those disposable phones. He did make a call the night after the switch to boat 2. He told his buddy he was on his way to Shanghai."

"Shanghai?" Ed asked.

"I'll call Shu," Daniels said.

* * *

Lewis wandered around the hospital grounds until he found a group of young men, hospital staff it appeared, playing a rough game of basketball on the back side of the building. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and stripped his coat off, feeling the bite of the cold through the sleeves of his shirt.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked.

The quickly assigned him to a team, and he was in full form. This was street ball, full contact basketball. Fouls were rarely called; players just plowed their way through the defense and got off shots as they could.

Lewis didn't have the build to work under the basket; he had always played guard. He grabbed the ball and dribbled out to the top of the key. He mapped out the locations of the players in his mind, faked to his right, dribbled behind his back and switched left, then drove into the key where he was immediately swarmed by the other players. He easily passed the ball out to his forward, who dropped a sinker from the side. The other team quickly took the ball, leaving time for a high five between Lewis and the forward.

They played for another 15 minutes before someone's phone rang and the bulk of the hospital staff had to go back to work. Lewis retrieved his jacket and slipped it on.

"You play a good game," the forward told him, handing him a bottle of water. "Got someone in the hospital, here?"

Lewis took a drink. "Yeah. My best friend."

"How's he doing?"

Lewis drank again and shook his head. "I thought he was better, but now they're saying they might have to take his leg."

"Goren?" the man asked.

Lewis nodded.

"I heard about him." He put his hand on Lewis' shoulder as they walked inside, giving it a squeeze. "This is a good hospital, man. And Dr. DeSoto's the best. He'll be all right."

"Thanks, uh…?" Lewis said, offering his hand for a shake.

"Ronnie. Ronnie Spinks."

They shook hands. "Lewis Ruzicki," he said. "Thanks, Ronnie."

"We'll pick up again at 4:30, weather permitting," Ronnie said.

"Thanks."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"Actually, the ship is expected there sometime next week. They don't have exact dates for these things, and especially when you're dealing with something as low profile as sunken treasure. They have to sneak around, hide from both the authorities and the pirates."

Shu continued, "We do have a navy ship in the right area, but they would have no authority to do more than say hello as they pass."

Daniels shook his head in frustration. "I hate when cases go international."

Shu ignored his comment and looked at Ed. "I think our best bet is to take a little trip."

Ed smiled at her. "To Shanghai?"

"I can contact the authorities there. We shouldn't have any problem questioning the men from the ship. Once we get the whole story, we might even be able to make some arrests."

Green was smiling from ear to ear. He couldn't think of anything better than taking a trip to China with Detective Meredith Shu. "I'll run it by the Captain," he said.

"I'll go with you," she offered.

After the two had passed, Daniels said weakly, "I wanna go, too…"

* * *

Logan dialed the number and was pleased when Lewis answered on the second ring. "Hey, Ruzicki, it's Logan."

"Hi Mike."

"How is he?"

Lewis turned, looked at Bobby, then started to walk out of the room. "Uh, hang on a sec," he said. Once he got a few steps into the hallway, he continued. "The leg's infected. If they can't clear it up, they'll have to amputate."

"Shit."

"Yeah. But they have to give it a couple of days, see if the medicine's working. Bobby's really down about it."

Mike cussed again and frowned. "And Alex?"

"She's okay," Lewis said. "I still think she could use some rest, but she's a lot better than she was."

Logan sighed. "Look, I've got a lot of information here… I think I need to talk to Bobby. Maybe he can help me… put it together."

Lewis grinned. "That might be just what he needs."

"I'll talk to the Captain, and I'll call you back. Thanks, Lewis."

* * *

Ross' phone rang. He could feel the acid in his stomach starting to churn. "Ross," he said.

"What the hell are you running, over there, Danny? A Travel Agency?"

He rolled his eyes, thankful the Commissioner couldn't see him. "There's some oddball stuff going on right now, travel is required to get to the bottom of it."

"To fucking China?"

He sighed. "Yes, sir, to fucking China."

"Well, hell, maybe I'll join Major Case. I could use a trip to Hawaii right about now."

"Sir…"

"All right, Danny, but you listen to me. I'll be reading those reports when they come in, and that justification section of the expense report better be so damn tight you could swear she's a virgin."

Ross frowned. Sometimes Moran was as crude as an ape. "Yes, sir. I'll make sure it is." He tossed the phone down against the base, then seated it with the palm of his hand. "I should've taken the damn trip to China," he muttered, adding something about a slow boat.

* * *

Logan wormed his way out of the traffic on the interstate and breathed a sigh of relief when he hit the city streets. He made good time and stopped at the hospital before checking into his hotel. He kept thinking about what Lewis had said, and he was worried about Bobby.

Mike knocked and poked his head inside the room. "Knock knock, anybody up for some company?" he called.

Alex shoved the tray of half-eaten food out of Bobby's way and brushed her hands off on her jeans. Mike came in and she greeted him with a hug.

"Hey, Bobby," Mike said cheerfully.

Bobby grimaced. "Hey Mike." There was some quiet discussion between Goren and Eames while she adjusted his bed and he fought against the tears in his eyes.

"That it?" She asked Bobby.

His face was full of tension, and his eyes were squeezed shut. "Yeah." He spat out.

Alex's eyes told Mike everything he needed to know about Bobby's condition. He nodded silently at her, then stepped closer to Bobby's bed. "Look man, Ross'd probably kill me if he knew why I came down here…"

After a moment, Bobby opened his eyes.

Mike held up a manila folder he carried under one arm. "I'm trying to piece this all together, figure out what happened to you… Do you remember anything?"

Bobby shook his head. "Not much. It's all kind of… surreal."

"Well, I was hoping if you went through all this with me, we could make it make sense."

Alex was grinning, now. Work would be the best thing to take Bobby's mind off his pain. She looked up as Lewis walked in, sweaty from the evening's basketball game.

Lewis greeted Mike, who filled him in on what he was planning to do. As Mike started laying papers out on Bobby's chest, Lewis slipped out of the room. Twenty minutes later, he returned with a flipchart on a stand and a box of markers. Alex grabbed the markers and got to work drawing out the things they'd discussed so far.

"Yeah, that's a lot better," Mike said, gathering up the stray papers off the top of Bobby. "Work better for you, man?" Mike asked, and Bobby smiled.

"Lewis, you didn't just rob a conference room or something, did you?"

Lewis grinned. "I just asked, and they got it for me. No worries."

By the time the information was transferred to the chart, Bobby was exhausted. Alex stood by him and ran her fingers through his hair. "I think we should call it a night," she said quietly.

"Yeah, sure, this can wait until morning," Mike said. Lewis and Mike walked outside, leaving Alex talking quietly to Bobby.

Mike saw Alex lean in and give Bobby a lover's kiss. Logan turned away, giving them their privacy. A few moments later, she was at his side. "Lewis said you have a good hotel for me," he said.

"Let's go," Alex said, patting Logan on the back as they walked down the hall.

* * *

Ed rearranged the bags in the overhead compartment and settled into his seat, right next to Meredith.

"Have you ever been to China?" She asked him.

He clicked his seatbelt. "No."

She smiled at him. "Stick close to me, I'll keep you out of trouble."

He smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

They listened to the Captain's announcement about the flight. Ed pulled out the book he'd been reading and found his page. The plane taxied to the runway and the flight attendants performed their safety dance. Meredith went through one of the catalogs from the back of the seat in front of her.

"What are you reading?" She asked.

"Oh, uh, it's 'The Brothers Karamazov'," he said. "I read it in college, but I thought I'd go through it again."

"You know, they made a movie of that, I think in the seventies? 60's or 70's."

"Maybe I'll check that out sometime," Green said, nodding. "You're not going to read that catalogue the whole time, are you?"

"I'm waiting 'til they give the okay for electronics." She waggled her iphone in front of him. "Then I'm going to brush up on my Chinese."

He looked shocked.

She smiled and touched his arm. "Like all languages, there are dialects, and accents. I don't want to show up in Shanghai sounding like an American. Or a country bumpkin. Better for us if I sound Chinese."

He grinned, nodding. "You're the boss."

She laughed. "I like the sound of that."

The glance she gave him after she spoke sent a little shiver through him. Ed sat back and opened his book. It was going to be hard to concentrate on reading on this trip.

* * *

A/N Okay, I realize my ship sailing timeline is probably totally screwed up, but you'll just ride along with me, right? I really appreciate the reviews, please keep them coming!


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Alex woke very early the next morning, worrying about Bobby. Quickly, she showered and dressed. Then she headed to the hospital.

He was still sleeping when she arrived. Alex looked him over, then moved to the flipchart they'd left standing by the wall under the television. Within minutes, she was engrossed in the flowchart they'd created from the information Logan had brought.

"Alex," he said, his voice still almost a whisper.

She spun around and smiled, a spark in her eye. "Good morning," she said. "How are you?"

He shifted in the bed, and it didn't seem to hurt as badly as the night before. "I don't know," he said.

Alex grinned. "You're better," she told him.

"Now that you're here," he said quietly.

She shook her head. "No, Bobby, don't." She moved closer to him and sat in the chair beside the bed. "Don't make me into something special."

He cocked his head and stared at her. "Something's on your mind," he said.

"I hate this," she breathed. She gestured to him, and his situation.

"Me too," he agreed.

Alex looked down. "Bobby… I… I'm sorry."

"Alex. What? For what?"

"I should have gone with you. Instead I… I guess I ran away."

His left hand stretched out and reached for her. She let him hold her hand. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"They… after they cut you, they dragged you out and put you on that other ship. They wanted me to go, but I jumped overboard instead." Tears filled her eyes. "I thought you were dead. You looked so…"

He gripped her hand tightly and pulled her closer. "Help me sit up."

She found the remote that operated the bed and raised him up in short spurts. Finally in a sitting position, he raised his left arm, asking for a hug. She gladly leaned in and he put his arms around her. "You're okay, Alex. I'm alive. You didn't do anything wrong. I'm glad you didn't go with me."

"But maybe—"

"Maybe you wouldn't be here now if you had," he said. "Please Alex, just be happy with me."

She hugged him as long as her body would allow it. When her back started to cramp, she pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes. He reached out and touched her cheek. "I love you. And you are something special."

"I love you, too," she whispered.

The night nurse came in and made her final rounds before leaving. She changed the dressing on his leg and confirmed that he was improving. As soon as she left them, the two shared a lengthy kiss.

* * *

"No, never married," Ed said. "You?"

"No. I was engaged once, but it didn't work out."

He gave her a compassionate smile. "Me too."

"Her loss," Meredith said.

Ed's smile brightened his face. "I think this is going to be a fun trip."

She winked at him. "You never know." She took a sip of her soft drink and set it back on the tray. "What was she like? This girl that almost married you?"

He shrugged. "She was nice. Sweet."

"I see."

"What?"

"Of course it didn't work out."

"What's wrong with nice and sweet?"

Meredith shook her head. "Too nice. Too sweet. You couldn't talk to her. About the things that eat at you. The job."

After a pause, he nodded. "You're spot on, Detective Shu." His eyes locked with hers. "Your turn. What was _he_ like?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "No, sir, Mr. Green. I'm not going there."

"He tried to control you. His ideas about relationship were antiquated; he wanted to be head of household, master of all. You couldn't be one woman at work and another at home. You called it off."

She licked her lips. "You're very good. You know, Ed… I've had a rule about dating cops…" She ran her finger along the stripes in his tie.

Against his better judgment, he quietly spoke. "That's probably not a bad rule to have." Even as he said it, his hand gently closed around hers.

She stared down at their hands, admiring the dark tone of his skin against hers. "It's served me well," she said softly, but her lips moved closer to his.

He leaned in and closed his eyes. The moment her lips brushed against his, a jolt went through him and he stiffened below the belt. Ed opened his mouth wider and dipped his tongue into her warmth.

The sudden patch of turbulence left them staring into each others' eyes.

* * *

"Okay. Let's run through it and you tell me anything you remember that will fill in the gaps." Mike went to the flip chart and pointed to the names. "You and Eames arranged to meet Jin Chang on the first ship."

"The 'Bellflower'," Alex informed him. "The ship. It was called the 'Bellflower.'"

Mike wrote that down. "Okay. So you go out to meet Jin Chang, but then Danny Lin was there."

"And Chang's father," Bobby added. "Hui Chang."

Mike wrote the man's name down.

"Danny knew that Jin and his father were going to talk to me. He tried to kill Hui."

Alex and Mike both listened with interest, but Bobby said no more.

"Then what happened?" Alex prompted.

"I…uh, I don't know. I stepped in the way, and he got me."

"All right, Jin and Hui. One of them is a big guy, one's not."

"Jin's father is very small."

"Jin got your Glock, Bobby." Mike filled him in. "He must have killed Lin, because he and his father are the ones who brought you up out of the cabin."

"One of them did it, we don't know which."

"They carried me up to the deck?"

"Yeah, well… Jin did. Come to think of it, the little guy had the gun. His father."

"Then they transferred you to the second boat." He grinned at Alex, "The Sun Dog."

"They wanted to help me."

"Why not leave you there?"

"I would have bled out."

"If they had a doctor, they could have…"

Bobby shook his head. "Not a doctor. If the guy had helped me on the Bellflower, and we were discovered, he would have gone straight to jail."

"For a long time," Alex agreed.

"Not a doctor. Okay. So they put you on the Sun Dog, so their not-doctor could work on you."

"Who owns the Sun Dog?"

Mike nodded at her. "Perry's working on that now."

* * *

Mark Perry sifted through the list of names in front of him and finally settled on two he thought were promising. He carried the paper over to Daniels and showed it to him.

"Which one?" Mark asked.

"What?" said Daniels.

"Which one owned the second boat?"

"Who's got the title?"

"There is no title. I just tracked it down the old fashioned way—classifieds and this guy to that guy and so forth."

"There's a frickin' registration number on the side of the boat right there!"

"It was bogus."

Daniels sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know either name, but we did have a guy named Lee as a crewman."

"Thank you." Perry circled the name and walked back to his desk.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

They walked together up to their rooms, each rolling a small suitcase. "I'll just freshen up, and see you in a few," Meredith said.

"Sure," he said with a shy smile. Ed watched her go inside her room, then swiped the key card for his own door. As the door closed behind him, he peeled off his suit coat and hung it in the closet. Then he removed his tie and his dress shirt. He found a bottle of water on the dresser and twisted the cap open, then drank some down. Ed walked over to the picture window and stared down at the busy, bustling streets below. It was like New York, really. Different, but somehow the same.

He heard a knock and sauntered over to the between-room door. He unlocked it and sucked in his breath as she entered.

Meredith smiled at him. "Tired?"

"Hell yeah."

"Hungry?"

He nodded. "Uh-huh."

"I'll order us something," she said, looking over the room service menu.

"I'm vegetarian," he said. She looked over at him with interest, then went back to the menu. She picked up the phone and ordered in Chinese.

"It'll be here soon," she announced, and curled her legs underneath her on the bed. He sat down beside her and his hand moved from her shoulder all the way down her arm. Raising it to her neck, his fingers weaved into her hair and he drew her forward into a lustful kiss.

She broke it off. "I should tell you I'm not looking for anything serious right now," she said. "Just a good time with a good guy."

After a moment's pause, he grinned. "I can live with that."

She smiled, too. "Good. Because," she spoke as she inched closer to him, wrapping her hands over his shoulders and around his neck, "I really want you." She kissed him hard and deep, and his hands found their way to her breasts.

The knock and call of "room service" forced them to stop.

* * *

Alex watched Bobby sleeping and found herself thinking back again. He was so much a part of her life, the few days she'd thought he was gone had been pure torture. Bobby had always been there… ever since Joe died, really. It was right after that she'd come to Major Case, he'd been assigned as her partner.

She'd given him a lot of leeway in those early days. She'd heard about his unorthodox methods… she wanted to see if there was something sound behind it. She chuckled, remembering how energetic he'd been, how cocky. Had he grown out of it? Or was that just Bobby's way of trying to prove he belonged in Major Case?

As if he ever needed to prove it. Alex had never worked with anyone so studious. He lived the job, and that was why he did it so well. Lewis had been his only friend for years, and it was clear that they never really spoke about the job. Except for the few times Bobby'd called on his expertise. They were just pals. Drinking buddies. They spent their time talking about girls and cars, and not necessarily in that order. That was the balance Bobby had found for his life.

She knew he'd had women, too, but never in a relationship. The horrors that haunted his mind would infringe on a relationship, and no woman would be able to truly understand that.

Except a cop. Except her.

She smiled again. They'd never intended to get involved with each other. If she hadn't made the first move, she was certain they'd still be nothing more than partners and good friends.

It had been a very cold night last winter, and she'd convinced Bobby to invite her over for dinner. They'd just closed a case, so she knew he needed a distraction, something to give him that balance he needed. He'd reluctantly agreed, and when she arrived, he was frantically trying to rescue the meal he'd been unable to concentrate on preparing.

She jumped in to help, and when the smoke detector went off, she dropped the pan in the sink in running water while he ripped the thing out of the ceiling and pulled the batteries out.

Alex coughed, and Bobby slid the kitchen window open. The icy air that crept in from outside made her nipples stand up. As he started to apologize, she started to laugh, and she took his hand and pulled on it, forcing him to put his arms around her. He hesitated until he realized she was cold, then he hugged her with his whole body, every part touching a part of her.

Intoxicated by his scent, she'd kissed him. Again he hesitated, but once she opened those doors, he yielded to a driving passion like none she'd ever seen before.

And now, aside from the love-making, nothing had really changed. Bobby loved her now, just as he had loved her before. It was comfortable, and real. She stared down at the ring on her finger. This was love like she'd never imagined it would be. She had the suspicion this was the kind that lasted.

"Hey, how's he doing?" Mike asked, as he walked in with Lewis two steps behind.

She smiled at them both. "Better," she said. She looked back. "He just fell asleep not too long ago. Maybe try again in an hour or so?"

Mike glanced over at Bobby, then back at Alex. "Sure."

Lewis grinned. "I've got just the thing to kill an hour," he said, clapping Logan on the back. "You do like basketball, right?"

* * *

Ed Green was beside himself. He was halfway across the world, with a beautiful woman in his arms, about to drift into the most peaceful sleep he'd had in years.

She slid her hand down his chest and it came to rest on the skin just below his hip bone. "Damn," she said again, in awe of him.

Ed smiled and dropped a kiss into her hair. He closed his eyes, then chuckled.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Just thinking how glad I am Daniels didn't come along."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Logan's phone rang, interrupting the beginning of their second work session in Bobby's room. "Logan," he said, after apologizing.

"I traced the boat to a guy named Renshu Lee. He claims the thing was stolen, started throwing a fit about having it returned to him."

"Yeah, well, good luck with that, Buddy," Mike said.

"That's what I told him."

"What do you have on him?"

"A couple of shady associations. He's in and out of Chang's circle. He probably was sailing that ship when they came to get the Changs."

"Pull his LUDS. I'd like to know what kind of phone calls were flying around that night."

"I've already requested them. I'll call you later."

"Good work, Perry." He ended the call. "Where were we?" He asked his little hospital-room team.

"Bobby, Jin, and Hui are on the Sun Dog, along with all the crew from the Bellflower," Lewis summed it up.

"When we get through here, you'll be junior-grade," Alex snarked.

"Bobby, you know guy named Renshu Lee?"

Bobby shook his head. "He owns the Sun Dog." Mike wrote his name on the flipchart paper. "Okay, I've gotta get more names. Maybe one of these will ring a bell with Bobby." He pulled his cell back out of his pocket. Before dialing, he looked at Bobby one more time. "Do you remember anything?"

"I don't know…" He thought a moment. "Pain. Dizzy. I remember thinking I was in a waterbed."

"People?"

Bobby thought a long time and finally shook his head. "I knew somebody had helped me. I don't recall seeing anyone."

Mike dialed the phone. After a second, he hung up and dialed again. "Daniels, where the hell are you?"

"I'm at my desk, doing the grind like most anybody else around here."

"Green didn't answer his phone."

"Green's in fucking China."

"What?"

"Ross sent Green to China."

"Holy hell! No way! And I thought I was lucky to go to Annapolis."

"So what did you want, Logan?"

"I need all the names you got from the Bellflower crew."

"Huh?"

"Boat number 1."

"Okay, gotcha." Daniels rooted through his notes. "Okay, here ya go. Nathan Lee, you already knew about him… On Xiao, Shen Dai, You He, Ricky Wang… That's all we know for sure. We've got rumors about the others, but nothing solid."

"Geez, how the hell do you spell all that? Never mind." Mike wrote it down phonetically. "If I need the spellings, I'll call you back. Thanks, Daniels. I'll put in a good word for you with Ross. Maybe he'll send you to Disneyland or something."

"Funny, Logan."

The exchanged goodbyes and Logan pushed 'end.' He said the names for Bobby, who didn't seem to recognize any of them.

* * *

Ed sipped a cup of coffee as he watched her walk out of the shower, stark naked. She toweled her hair and then wrapped herself in a towel. "We'll get some breakfast, then check in with the locals."

He grinned and took another sip.

"You're very quiet."

Ed's smile widened. "I'm just along for the ride. You're my tour guide, partner, and Captain all rolled into one."

She dropped her hands to her side. "Sorry. I can be a little bossy at times."

He set his cup down and walked towards her. He tasted her soft neck, then straightened to look her in the eyes. "After last night, I could care less," he said. Green headed for the shower.

Meredith stared after him. As good a detective as she was, she wasn't sure just what to make of Ed Green.

* * *

Perry reviewed the LUDS and then went over everything he could get on Renshu Lee. For some reason, the name Kenny Song kept niggling in his brain. He went through his information again, with the same result. For no reason whatsoever, Kenny Song stuck in his brain.

He set off on a sidebar, pulling up anything he could find on Song. Korean-American, Song grew up in New York City. There was nothing in the public record about him that would put him on the wrong side of the law. He'd served in the Army, then he all but disappeared from history until these fairly recent phone calls with Lee.

Perry leaned back in his chair and tapped the eraser of his pencil against his lips. His fingers hit the keyboard again, and he made some notes. Then he called Logan.

"Logan."

"Hey, Mike, are you still with Goren?"

"Nah, he was tired, so we all split. Why?"

"I think I may be onto something."

"Like what?"

"Renshu Lee, the owner of the Sun Dog. He was talking with this guy Kenny Song. I think Goren maybe knows him."

"Why?"

"I think there's an Army connection. Song was in South Korea in 1988. That's about when Bobby was there, right?"

"I don't know."

"Well, just ask him if he knows the guy."

"Song. Kenny, you said?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Alex took two pills and climbed into the hotel bed, pulling the comforter all the way up to her neck. Her head was pounding, and had been for at least two hours. In her flurry of concern for Bobby, she'd forgotten to take care of herself. Her body had continued to heal in spite of her neglect, but she was feeling its protest. Her deficit of sleep was the worst of it, bringing on horrendous headaches. Honestly, Alex had yet to recover the feeling on the outside of her left foot, too, but it didn't interfere with her walking, so she didn't think it was much cause for worry.

Her thoughts went back to Bobby. He really was improving. Today was the best day yet. When Lewis had turned his back and Bobby had winked at her, it had seemed like a typical day at home. She thought, wondering how many times she'd been the recipient of that left-eye wink.

It was something she'd never seen him do with anyone else, something he reserved especially for her. Just last month, as she hurried into the squad room late, and Daniels had popped off some crude comment, Bobby had been the first to pop back, with a double entendre and a left-eye wink supplied in the split second when she was the only one looking. She'd damned near smacked him for it.

But God, he was sexy when he did that.

Alex rolled to her side and closed her eyes. The headache was subsiding now. She drifted into sleep thinking of him, looking forward to the day they could share a bed again.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Ed had the same sense of Shanghai in the day that he'd had at night. It was just like New York, only different. It was big and bustling, full of cars and people and bikes. The architecture was different, though. There was a flair to it that he liked. The old buildings had their traditional curves on the roof, but the newer ones were jazzed up with curves and spheres and enticing angles.

She hooked her hand through the crook of his arm. "You'll have to look ahead once in a while or you're going to walk right into a pole."

He smiled at her and laughed. "I know."

As they neared the police station, she let him go. They walked purposefully into the building, checking in with security and showing their ID. A middle-aged detective in a gray suit met them at the security checkpoint and invited them to follow him.

Ed didn't understand a word he said, but he followed the body language. Once Meredith started walking, he followed. They were led into a squad room, and then an office. He assumed it belonged to their Captain, or the equivalent. They shook hands.

"Welcome to China," said the Captain, in English.

Ed smiled. "Thank you."

"You are enjoying our city?"

He cast a quick glance at Shu. "Yes, sir, I am."

Meredith spoke quickly in Chinese, making the other men laugh. Ed could tell by her expression that she had moved on to business. She gave her number to the Captain and turned to Ed.

"The ship won't be here until tomorrow. They're going to give me a call when it's coming in, and they will accompany us to the harbor."

"Sounds good," Ed smiled and shook hands with them again before he and Meredith left.

* * *

Bobby smiled. "Song!" He looked over at Alex, then at Mike and Lewis. "I used to tease him, sing to him all the time."

"What do you know about him?" Mike asked.

"He was in CID, like me," Bobby said. "Only he was on his way out when I was just starting. We did the run in South Korea together, then he went back to the States." Bobby paused and adjusted his bed higher. They all noticed he did it with less pain this time. "How's he connected with this?"

"He's been having phone conversations with Renshu Lee."

Bobby cocked his head and looked at Mike. Then he turned to the flipchart and stared a moment.

"What did he do when he left the Army? Perry says he couldn't find a thing on him until these phone calls."

"Shit," Goren breathed.

"What?"

"Just before he left, he was talking about jobs. He was looking into the NSA, the CIA, the FBI, all of them."

"You think he works for the Feds?"

"Song was good. They could use a guy like him."

Mike considered this. That put a whole new spin on the case. "I'm going to have to talk to Ross. We don't want to screw up a federal case."

Bobby nodded, and Lewis stepped forward, too. "I've gotta get back to the garage, man. Logan, can I ride back with you?" Mike nodded. Lewis turned back to Bobby. "You just keep getting better, man. Okay?"

Bobby smiled at his friend and pulled Lewis into a hug. "Thanks," he whispered.

Lewis turned to Alex and gave her a warm hug. He did, however, let it linger a moment past when she tried to pull away.

"Don't make me elbow you again, Lewis," Alex said into his shoulder.

He let her go, grinning. "Can't blame a guy for trying." He shared a grin with Bobby, waved, and walked out the door after Logan.

* * *

"Great news, Mr. Goren. Dr. De Soto wants to make some changes."

Bobby raised an eyebrow.

"He said to switch you to oral antibiotics and to get you up and walking."

Bobby's eye met with Alex's. That seemed like a pretty tall order. The nurse moved over and checked his IV bag. She smiled at Bobby. "You ready?"

Bobby nodded. "I guess so."

She unhooked several things, removed the IV and gave him a bandaid over the spot where it had been. "How's that feel?" She asked.

"Nothing to hold me back now," he said.

"Are you ready to walk?"

He took a deep breath. "I can try."

The nurse brought in a pair of crutches. "All we're going to do this time is stand you up and get these adjusted. We'll take a walk later."

"Okay."

With some effort, the nurse and Alex got Bobby to his feet. He leaned hard on Alex while the nurse adjusted the height of one crutch. "How are you feeling?"

"Kinda… I don't know…" His grip on Alex tightened.

"Bobby?" She asked. The nurse dropped the crutch and moved in, holding him from the other side. They lowered him back down to the mattress.

"Did you get a little light headed?" The nurse asked him.

"Yeah," Bobby said.

"Okay, that's okay." The nurse started lay him down again. "Mission accomplished. We'll try again later."

Once he was lying flat, the nurse lifted the corner of the bandage on his leg. "Let me just make sure this looks okay," she said. Satisfied that he was all right, she replaced the bandage and draped the sheet and covers back over him. She smiled at both Alex and Bobby. "You did fine. We'll try again later."

* * *

Lewis drove most of the way, giving Mike a chance to rewrite and reorganize his notes. He had to have everything in order before he presented it to the Captain.

"You and Bobby have been pals a long time, huh?"

"Since we were kids," Lewis said. "You?"

Mike shook his head. "I don't even know if we are, you know… friends. I like the guy and all, don't get me wrong…"

"He considers you a friend." Mike looked over at Lewis in surprise. "Especially now. Since Alex told him what went on while he was missing."

"Well, I, uh, you know…"

"You didn't give up on him, Mike. That means a lot."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Mike brought Perry and Daniels in with him when he briefed Captain Ross. Ross looked from one man to the other. "Anybody got a clue what's really going on yet?"

"Something to do with treasure. That's all we know for now."

"Heard from Ed?" Mike asked.

Ross shook his head. "Damn ship won't be in Shanghai until tomorrow. Looks like I paid for a damn vacation." Ross frowned. "All right, look. I'll call around to the Feds, see if they'll let me in on anything. I'll see if I can't make contact with Song, at least. In the meantime, we need to get the paperwork out to bring in one or both of the Changs. If they're on that ship, I'll have Green and Shu bring them back from Shanghai."

His look and his tone of voice dismissed them. Daniels and Perry left the room, but Mike stayed behind.

"What is it, Logan?"

"The Changs saved Bobby's life."

"They also took Danny Lin's."

Mike frowned and folded his arms. "I don't like it."

Ross sighed. "I don't like it either, Logan. We'll just have to get the whole story and make sure the prosecutors take that into consideration. Now get outta here so I can make those calls."

Logan nodded and walked out.

* * *

Meredith took Ed out for the best Chinese food he'd ever had. Then they went for a walk. "I kinda stand out," he said, noticing another hard stare as they walked together down the sidewalk.

"I suppose you do."

"You do, too," he commented. "Just because you're walking with me."

She hooked her hand in his. "I don't mind."

"I thought you didn't want people to think you were American."

"Just the bad guys. I don't care what anybody else thinks." On that note, she stopped him and kissed him. "More sightseeing?" she asked. "Or maybe a nap?"

He rubbed his eyes. "A nap sounds good," he said. "I'm still jetlagged."

* * *

A nap wasn't in the picture however. Once the two got into the privacy of their rooms, they couldn't keep their hands off each other. They made love for over an hour and collapsed against each other, happy and spent.

At that moment, Green's phone rang. "Green," he said.

"When the ship arrives tomorrow, you have to take everyone into custody."

"Who is this?"

"Just listen. Don't stop with just the Changs. Take us all. My life depends on it."

"Look I might be able to detain you all for a while, but this isn't my country. I can't just—"

"Detective Green. Find a way." The call ended, and Green looked over at Shu, baffled. "I've gotta call my Captain," he said.

She listened in while he spoke to Ross. "Okay, yes sir. Can't we get somebody to come fill us in? The guy said his life depended on it. Be nice to know what we're walking into."

"You know how these things work, Ed. The Feds will call the Embassy, the Embassy will call the Shanghai police, then they'll call you and by then it'll be a miracle if you get any information worth having." Ross yawned heavily. "Last time I spoke with them, the Embassy was about to contact the police. It's happening, just slowly."

"All right, thank you, sir. What's this fellow's name again?"

"Kenny Song."

"Thanks."

* * *

At last the call came in. Shu spoke to the police in Chinese, then turned to Ed. "It's time. They want to brief us before the ship comes into harbor."

They hurried out, and got a cab to take them to the police station. After going through security, they were again escorted up to the Captain's office. This time, there were three more Americans already in the room.

"Welcome, detectives. This is Bill Reese, Ellen Marco, and I'm Phil Hargett."

"Meredith Shu, Ed Green," Ed said as they shook hands with everyone.

"I suppose your Captain has filled you in," said Phil.

"Only so much as to say there's Federal involvement."

"Our operative has been inside the Chang organization for several months, using them to get to the big guns in the Tong. However, it turned out the ties to China were still very strong." He nodded to the Shanghai officers.

"Somebody called me yesterday," Ed said. "Told me to take all of them in, that his life depended on it."

The three exchanged glances. "That was our man."

"Kenny Song," Ed volunteered.

The three Americans jumped at the mention of his name, then nodded. "I would hope you'd keep that information to yourself from now on."

"I'm from the school of thought that the more I know, the better," Green said, sounding defensive.

The police asked something in Chinese, and Shu answered. "That's right," said Bill. "We've got to drum up some warrants. Anything you can muster."

Shu spoke to the Shanghai police again, explaining about Song's predicament.

Ellen turned to the officers and handed them a file folder full of photographs. "This should be everything you need."

Going through the pictures, they found evidence that the ship had transferred cargo while at sea to another vessel. The Shanghai police spoke excitedly. Meredith turned to Ed. "They can do it. A search warrant for the ship and arrests for everyone on board."

Conversation turned to the logistics of the operation.

* * *

Alex helped Bobby to his feet, then quickly handed him the crutches. "You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah."

She stood aside as he awkwardly walked from the bed to the bathroom. He fumbled with the door, but closed himself inside. Once he returned, she helped him back into his bed.

"Well?" She asked him after he was comfortable again.

"Kinda hurt."

She smiled. "At least you know you can do it."

"Yeah."

She sat down beside him and held his hand.

"Alex?" He waited until she looked him in the eye. "Are you all right?"

"I'm okay, Bobby."

"Just okay." He waited for her to respond to him.

"Honestly?" The look on his face answered that question. "I've been having a lot of headaches. And part of my foot is numb."

"You should be at home."

"I'll go when you go."

"The nurses can take care of me."

Alex sighed and laced her fingers through his. "Don't fight me on this, Bobby. We'll go home together."

His hand was against her cheek. "I worry about you."

She touched her fingers to his lips. "I know you do."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

They waited until the ship was docked. It was already getting dark, and rather than take the chance that the ship would head back out to sea, the police hung back until the ship was secured in the harbor. Then they moved in, highly visible with patrol lights, and reflective vests advertising "police" across the back, in both Chinese and English.

Green and Shu were there, but had been instructed to take a back seat and let the Shanghai officers do their job. They worked with two of the local officers, keeping those already cuffed under close watch. A full size bus was being brought in to transport the suspects.

Shu caught the movement out of the corner of her eye. She took off running down the pier, weapon out and shouting in Chinese. Ed ran after her, more from instinct than from sense.

She caught up to the man just as he jumped into a pleasure boat that was tied to the dock. Shu shouted warning in Chinese and trained her gun on him. He ducked down into the boat, denying her a clear shot. She holstered her weapon and jumped on board. They were wrestling in the doorway of the pilot's cabin by the time Ed leapt aboard.

He saw the flash of the knife and managed to grab the man's arm and wrench it upwards, keeping Shu out of danger. She scrambled to her feet and drew her weapon on him. Shouting in Chinese, she convinced the man to drop the knife. Green dropped him to the deck and held his arms behind his back, then secured the handcuffs on him.

"You okay?" He shouted to her.

She was gasping for breath. "Yeah, I think so," she answered. "We should get back to the others." Her radio spat a frenzied question, and she pushed the button and replied. "They're looking for us," she said.

Carefully, they walked the man back onto the dock and joined the others. In the light of the police vehicles, Ed could see that her arm was bleeding. He stopped her and showed it to her.

"Wow, I didn't even feel it," she commented.

"Go get it checked," he said. "Gui can take care of me," he quipped, leaning his head in the direction of the officer next to him. Gui told her something in his native tongue, obviously agreeing with Green. Shu nodded, clamped a hand over the bloody spot on her arm and walked off in the direction of the medical vehicle.

Within 20 minutes, they were back at the station, debriefing. Although they translated very little of it to English, Ed stayed and listened respectfully. He was one of the team, and he would act as such, whether he knew what they were saying or not.

Gui punched his arm and smiled at him, nodding. "You, uh, partner… is praise."

Ed smiled. "She did do a good job, didn't she?" Just as the meeting broke up, Shu entered, her sleeve only allowing a hint of her crisp bandage to show. She walked up to Gui and Ed and greeted them warmly. "How is it?" he asked.

"Ten stitches, and some pain medicine. I'll be fine."

"Tell Gui he was just going to take us for coffee."

She looked at Ed and shook her head. "Not coffee, tea. When in China…"

"Okay, tea, whatever," Green said. Meredith translated for Gui, who happily obliged his new friends.

* * *

"I guess we have a wedding to plan," Alex said.

He stared at her, then turned back to the tv. "I think I'd rather watch reality tv."

"Nice try, Goren." She clicked the thing off. "How do you want to do this?"

"Courthouse?"

She frowned. "Backyard party?" She knew he wouldn't go for a church wedding, and she wasn't sure she wanted one this time, either.

He shrugged. "Yeah, okay."

"When?"

"Backyard party, gotta be warm. June?"

"Too busy. How about May? Or August?"

"May." _The sooner the better_, Bobby thought.

"Who?"

"Uh, me and you?" he teased.

"No, Bobby. Lewis is your best man?"

"Of course."

"And I'll have Liz. You want anybody else in it?"

"No."

"Good. Me either. Now we're back to where." Liz has a nice yard, but she was planning to get some landscaping done, and I don't know if she'll want to host us."

"In the park?" he suggested.

"Too many hassles. Permits, waiting lists, blah blah blah…"

"Ask Liz," Bobby said. "Tell her we'll help with the landscaping, you know… after." He yawned.

"You're tired."

"Yeah."

"I'll go. You can get some sleep."

"You get some, too." His fingers touched her chin when she kissed him good night.

* * *

They pulled an all-nighter at the Shanghai station, interrogating every person they'd taken from the ship. Shu and Green were given Kenny Song, as well as both Changs. They started with Song.

Ed shook his hand. "I hear you're a friend of Bobby Goren's."

"Is he okay?" Kenny asked.

"We found him in time. Last I heard, he was on the mend." Ed sat down across from Song. "Mind filling us in?"

"I can tell you some of it. What happened to Bobby, anyway."

"Please."

"We've been trying to get after the big guns in the Tong. I was undercover with the Changs. I heard that they were going to give some information to Bobby on Danny Lin. That was all good, until I heard Lin caught wind of it. I was out on Renshu Lee's boat, and I knew something bad was going to happen. I convinced them we had to get into the harbor and help out. Only we were too late."

"Jin Chang called me, told me Bobby was hurt bad. We got him on board, and took everyone else for good measure. His partner wouldn't come with us."

"Yeah, she took a pretty hard hit to the head," Ed explained.

"We had a surgeon on the ship, she took care of Bobby. It was a miracle she didn't hurt him worse, we were really making time out of US waters. We knew that Lin's death would bring them out of the woodwork. The Sun Dog was like a neon sign. We couldn't stay there, they'd kill us all."

"Jin called in their treasure ship. We rendezvoused with it in open seas. The surgeon said Bobby would die if we moved him; anybody else would die if they stayed. We figured because he was a cop, he might have a chance, even if the Tong found him. We set him up as best we could, with blankets and water."

"We got on the treasure ship, and that was the last I saw Bobby."

"Your surgeon… really a surgeon?"

"Not in the US."

Shu spoke. "But the surgery happened in international waters, isn't that right?" she prompted Song.

He shook his head and said "Yes, that's right. She didn't touch him with the scalpel until we were out of US waters."

"You know we have to bring in Danny Lin's murderer."

"I can't tell you who did that. It was either Jin or his father."

Ed held out his hand for Kenny to shake. "Thank you. For everything. I know I speak for Bobby when I say that."

"You'll have to speak with the Chinese authorities about what transpired on the treasure ship."

"I know."

"Our embassy is prepared to get you home as quickly as possible."

"Thanks."

* * *

Ed and Meredith arrived at the hotel in the early dawn. Too tired for romance, they piled into bed together. She lay with his arm under the back of her neck, his hand stroking her hair.

"Thank you, Ed."

"For what?"

"Coming onto that ship after me."

"Just doing my job."

"You did it well."

"For the record, you scared the hell out of me." His hand continued smoothing her hair back.

She turned her head toward his chest and snuggled against him. Meredith Shu, who wasn't looking for more than a good time with a good guy, was having serious feelings for Edward Green. She fell asleep in his arms.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

A half day's worth of waiting around, plus some final doctor's orders, and Bobby and Alex were on their way home. Alex drove the SUV, Bobby settled in and reclining in the passenger seat beside her, his crutches stretched across the back seat.

She made it through the Annapolis traffic with no troubles, then hit the more open but still congested lanes of I-97. Her head was pounding, but she kept going, knowing that she was the only one who could get them home.

"Are you all right?" He asked.

He must have seen her squint. "Yeah," she lied. "Sun's a little bright, that's all."

"Alex, we don't have to push it."

"Bobby, I'm fine."

He stared at her a moment longer, frowning, but unable to do anything to stop her. Alex was as stubborn as they come, and he certainly couldn't drive. As they neared the halfway point of the drive, both Alex and Bobby found themselves wishing Lewis had stayed a day longer.

* * *

The flight back to the US was not nearly as pleasant as the flight to China had been. Both Detectives had to maintain their professionalism. Song, as well as both Changs, were under their charge, and they had to keep guard over them throughout the flight.

Shu slept while Green kept watch. Both Changs were asleep, and Song was his only company. Ed poured him a glass of Sprite and slid it close enough for him to pick up with his cuffed hands.

"Thanks," Song said.

"Hell of a way to travel," Ed commented.

Song smiled. "I've had better accommodations, that's true," he admitted. He raised his glass to the detective. "To the job," he toasted, then drank.

"I've got no complaints," Kenny continued. "I'm alive, thanks to you. What's a pair of handcuffs?"

"You're still in danger."

"Not for long. I'll get relocated after this. Hell, I might even retire somewhere, get away from the City."

Ed refilled the man's drink. "Tell me about Goren."

"What's to tell? Smart aleck, annoying, oversized."

"I hear you," Ed teased. "He was just a kid back then."

"I never met a kid with a mind like that. He could read people faster than anyone I ever saw. I used to tell him he should play poker for a living."

Ed chuckled. "I've often wondered about that myself."

"Goren's got his tells, too," Kenny explained. "Poker's not just a defensive game." Kenny drank again, then laughed. "Son of a bitch used to serenade me all the time, making fun of my name."

Ed smiled. "Sounds like Bobby."

"Never got used to him being right all the time. That used to piss me off royally. Declan loved it. He would jump in and bait us, just to watch us argue." Kenny leaned his head back against the seat. "I wonder whatever happened to old Declan…"

Ed's expression changed. "That's a long story, one you probably don't want to hear."

* * *

Bobby slowly made his way across the living room while Alex brought in her bag and locked the door behind them. He wasn't hopping with the crutches, he was putting weight on his bad leg, giving it a decent workout. It took him a while, but he made it to her bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Alex popped a couple of pain relievers and joined him in the bedroom. "I've gotta get some sleep," she announced. "You need anything?"

He took off his shirt and unfastened his pants. "I can manage." He struggled, but he did manage to strip down to his shorts and lie next to her under the covers. Alex was already asleep by the time he settled in beside her. He turned as far as he comfortably could and rested his arm over her chest. "I love you," he whispered.

* * *

Shu was on, and Ed was out cold when the plane touched down at LaGuardia. A team of officers was there to collect the prisoners; all she had to do was sign a couple of forms. Once the job was done, she turned back to Ed, who was stirring.

"Home sweet home," she told him with a grin.

He rubbed his eyes hard and scraped his fingers through his hair. "Oh, hey." He looked around. "They're gone already?"

"Just took care of it."

He started to gather up his things. She cleared her throat.

"Uhm, Ed… I know you have to check in with your Captain, but… I wondered if you might…" she couldn't stop the blush from creeping up her cheeks. "Come home with me?"

He stuffed his book inside his carry-on and gaped at her. "I… I thought this was just a… good time…"

"I thought that too… for a while," she said quietly.

Bags in hand, he followed her off the plane and into the jetway. "So what is it now?" he asked.

"Maybe… let's see where it goes?" she replied.

He nodded, thinking about what she said with each step. Just before they went through the door into the terminal, he spoke. "It's going to your place today."

She gave him a bright smile and they made their way to the baggage claim.

* * *

When Mike Logan called Alex, he was surprised to hear Bobby's answer.

"Eames' phone."

"Bobby! How are you?"

"Okay. I'm glad you called. I'm with Alex at St. Vincent's. She couldn't wake up this morning."

"What? Geez, Bobby, what do you need?"

"Just… can you come over here? I called her sister, and Lewis…"

"I'll be there as quick as I can."

"Room 322."

* * *

Alex was hooked to monitors, but had not been fully conscious since last night. Bobby sat beside her, his arm crooked around his crutches, his leg wound throbbing in protest at the lack of care it had gotten this morning.

Liz entered and dropped her hand on Bobby's shoulder as she looked at her sister. Then she squatted down beside him and gave him a hug. "Good to see you," she said quietly. Then she nodded to her sister. "What are they saying?"

"She has some fluid… the pressure on her brain is… causing this." He swallowed, then continued, "It's from her head injury. A complication."

Liz looked back, then looked at him. "Are you all right? You look like you're hurting."

He shook his head. He didn't want to admit that he needed help, too. Lewis walked in, took in the scene, and scooted another chair up in front of Bobby's. He helped him raise his leg into the other chair and took the crutches from him.

"What happened?" he asked his friend.

"She… I couldn't wake her up this morning."

Lewis gave Bobby's shoulder a squeeze and then greeted Liz. He looked over Alex, patting her on the arm, then turned back to Bobby. "You shouldn't be here, but I know better than to think you'll leave. But you've got to take care of yourself. What else do you need?"

Bobby ran his hand through his hair. "Uhm, I left my pills at the apartment. I'm s'posed to take them every 4 hours."

"I'll run out there and get them. Anything else?"

"No." Bobby gave him his keys and Lewis left.

* * *

A/N I could use some more reviews! They really give me a boost and inspire me to keep working!


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"What's going on?" Mike asked.

"They're taking her down for a CT scan," Bobby said.

"It's the head injury," Liz volunteered. "They think she's bleeding inside her brain."

"So what are they going to do about it?" Mike asked, his face full of worry.

"The scan will tell them how bad it is. If it's bad, they might have to do surgery," Liz answered. She had her arms folded across her chest, the exact same posture he'd seen Alex use.

Mike looked over at Alex, who seemed peacefully asleep. Then he looked down at Bobby. "How are you doing?"

"Lewis went to pick up my meds. I'm okay."

Logan frowned. He didn't buy that for a second. Goren's expression betrayed that he was in pain. He looked around the room again. "So when they take her for the scan, I'll get you something to eat."

"It's all right, Logan."

"Common sense, Goren. Nothing to do but sit around anyway. You gotta eat."

At last, Bobby nodded. The technicians came in and transferred Alex to a gurney, then they wheeled her out of the room. Bobby stood with his crutches, out of the way, his hurt leg bent and his weight on the other one.

* * *

They found a couch in a waiting room and Mike helped Bobby get comfortable there. He propped up his leg with pillows and stuffed another one behind his back to he could sit up. Liz stayed there with Bobby until Mike came back with breakfast for all of them.

Bobby's phone rang. "Hello?"

"Where is everybody?" Lewis asked.

"Oh, uh, a waiting room. Hold on." He handed the phone to Mike. "It's Lewis, tell him where we are."

Mike walked out in the hall. "Waiting room on the 2nd floor, next to radiology." He hung up and handed the phone back to Bobby.

They dug into the food. When Lewis arrived, he greeted everyone, then fished out a pill for Bobby.

"Thanks," the bigger man said.

"No problem," said Lewis. "What's going on?"

* * *

"The good news is it's very small. It looks like it's bleeding slowly, and given the size, I think it will heal on its own. We'll keep her here a few days, then do another scan. If we see it's shrinking, we'll send her home."

The room collectively sighed in relief.

"Looks like you've got some issues of your own," the doctor said to Bobby, who had twisted uncomfortably on the couch to be able to listen to him.

"Yeah, I've got a… laceration in my leg."

"He and Alex are engaged," Lewis said.

The doctor smiled at Bobby. "I'll ask the staff to do what they can to make you comfortable," he offered.

* * *

Kenny Song stood in Ross' office, free of handcuffs. Two Federal agents were present, as well as the ADA. After smiles and handshakes all around, he was told he was free to go.

"You'll be heading out of state," one of the Feds told him.

Kenny nodded. "I know. But there's someone I've got to see first." He saw the look, and raised his hands to reassure them. "Don't worry, it's not someone they would use to look for me."

The ADA and the agents left the room. Kenny looked up at Danny Ross. "I need to see Goren," he said. "Before I go."

* * *

It was still uncomfortable, but the loveseat they'd found and hauled into the room allowed him to sit with his leg elevated. He was by the wall, but had a good view of Alex. Logan had gone back to work, and Lewis and Liz were playing a game of cards to pass the time.

"You look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you," Kenny announced from the doorway.

Bobby's face shone with happiness. "Song!"

Kenny came in, glanced around the room nodding at everyone, then scraped a chair across the floor to sit by his friend. "Hell of a lot better," he repeated.

"You saved me," Bobby said, reaching out his hand to shake Kenny's.

"I tried. Your stubborn constitution is what saved you." Kenny gave him a grin, then looked around the room again. "Your partner?"

"For life," Bobby said. "We're recently engaged."

"She'll be all right?"

Bobby nodded. "Just some complications from that night. She'll be fine."

"Good."

"Kenny," Bobby began, taking in his friend's graying hair and the lines in his face, "You got old."

He laughed. "So did you, Goren." The laughter subsided and he looked at his old friend. "Green told me… about Declan. About everything. I'm sorry, Bobby."

Bobby's face took on a sober expression. "You remember he used to teach us to get inside the perp's head? All the time, all the time, he was pushing us to do that."

"Yeah, I remember."

"He was wrong. It's not always necessary, and it's certainly a last resort. It's more important to keep a balance," Bobby explained, "between _that_… and reality." He looked fondly at Alex. "She taught me that."

"You've got some very good friends, Bobby. You did well for yourself." Kenny rubbed his hands together. "Look, man, I won't be back this way again. I just wanted to touch base with you."

Bobby reached out his hand and clasped Song's. He brought it to his chest and thumped it against his heart. "Take care, man."

"You too. I'll keep tabs on you, wherever I am."

* * *

Meredith buzzed him in and waited excitedly by her apartment door to let him in. She unlocked it and as he came in, she wrapped her arms around him. "I have a veggie-burger, if you're hungry," she offered.

He rested his cheek against hers and moaned softly. "I just want to sleep," he said.

She took his hand and led him to her bed. They stripped between kisses, and he fell asleep before she had the chance to do more. She tucked the blankets over him and snuggled up beside him. She was tired, too. The rest could wait.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Mike Logan, Mark Perry, a department translator, and both Changs sat in an interrogation room together. Ross stood behind the glass, watching with interest. He'd reserved the option of separating the two suspects, but agreed to let Logan try it his way, first.

"We have a video of what happened on the Bellflower. We know one of you killed Danny Lin."

The Changs shared a look, but remained silent.

"We also know you saved Detective Goren's life," Perry offered. "That will most certainly play in your favor, once the truth comes out."

Jin looked to his father, then back. "Danny Lin tried to stab my father. Goren jumped in the way, and saved my father's life."

Hui spoke in Chinese, and the translater said. "The policeman saved my life. We had to help him, and fast. He was bleeding very heavily. Lin still held the knife. He made a lunge for me, and my son knocked him away. He took the gun from the policeman." Hui looked at the men in the room. "He held the gun and told Lin to stop, but Lin tried again to stab me. My son fired the gun. It was self-defense."

Logan looked over at Perry sadly. "Mr. Chang," Mike looked at the younger of the two. "You should get yourself a good lawyer." He looked over at the old man, then back at Jin. "You agree with what he had to say?"

Jin glanced at his father, then back at Logan. "Yes. That is the truth of what happened."

"Tell your old man he's free to go," Logan said, gathering up his things and ushering the other NYPD people out of the room.

* * *

Bobby lay in the evening light of the room, staring at his Alex. Liz had gone home with the promise to return in the morning. Lewis, too, was only a phone call away. It was just Bobby and Alex. They had silenced the monitors, but he could see the lines displayed her heart rhythm and other vitals on the screen. So far, she was doing fine, but she had not woken all day.

His thoughts went back to their first days as a couple. It had hit him out of nowhere, really. He'd loved her for years, but was content to bury his feelings and simply be her friend. Then had come that disastrous dinner. He could still feel the smoke stinging his eyes as he climbed up to pull the smoke detector's batteries out. Lord, that was a lot of smoke.

And Alex had laughed. She'd laughed so hard, she'd hunched over with tears in her eyes. He remembered how she'd taken his hand, how she'd pulled him close to her.

He'd resisted. He was comfortable with what they had. He wasn't looking for anything more, any complications. But her arms had been cold, and she'd shivered, and he held her just to warm her up.

The kiss had surprised him, too. But her lips felt good against his, and it had been a very long time. He'd kissed her back. She'd responded to every single movement he'd made. He'd lost himself in the moment, something he'd always found hard to do with other people. They'd talked about it a few times, wondered aloud just how long they'd made love that night. Neither knew the answer; neither one of them would ever know.

And once Bobby had given himself to Alex, something had snapped right into place. Like the cogs in a gear that had been misaligned, once he had Alex, everything in his life came together. Everything fit. Even when there were difficulties, there was a light at the end of it. Bobby'd never experienced that before. He'd never had much thought of the future, except that crappy things would continue to happen. Now, with Alex, he had a future he looked forward to.

Even now, as her body worked to heal itself, he felt they had a future together. He'd given up on God a long time ago, but looking at the events of the last couple of weeks was enough to make him reconsider. Maybe Somebody was looking out for him, after all. Maybe every crappy moment in his life had served to make him stronger and smarter, and good enough for her. Maybe.

* * *

She heard him shuffling around in the kitchen and got up to investigate. Meredith only bothered with her robe for the sake of warmth. She had never been ashamed to show off her body. She leaned against the doorframe and watched him. "Looking for something?"

"Oh, uh, hi," he greeted her, a little embarrassed. "I was kind of hungry. Where do you keep your spatulas?"

She smiled and showed him a can full of utensils in the pantry. Her kitchen was too small to keep them out on the counter.

"Thanks," he said, grabbing one quickly and flipping over his veggie burger before it burned.

"You know you can just nuke those," she commented.

"Tastes better if you cook them on the stove," he said. He stood up straight and stared at her. "What time is it, anyway? I feel like I should be getting ready for work."

She tilted her head and read the clock on the stove. "3:30 in the morning. A little early for work, I'd say."

"Damn. Jetlag."

"Uh-huh."

"Sorry to wake you," Ed said.

She shrugged. "I've got jet-lag, too. Share your burger?"

"Okay." He finished cooking it and dropped it onto a piece of bread. After topping it with another, he cut the sandwich in half.

"I've got mayonnaise and ketchup and mustard in the fridge."

He helped himself to the ketchup. When she nodded her approval, he bumped the refrigerator door shut.

She doctored up her sandwich and took a couple of bites.

"How long have you been on the force?" Ed asked.

"17 years. Most of it in the gang unit."

"That's pretty dangerous for you, isn't it?" he asked.

"No more than Vice." She crossed her legs and took another bite. "Does that bother you?"

He sniffed and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Seems to me you can take care of yourself."

She looked down at the bandage on her arm. "Most of the time," she said.

"Coulda happened to anybody."

"What about you?"

"12 years."

"And Major Case?"

"Just transferred in a month ago. I helped out on a couple of cases before, but I just made the big move. I was at the 2-7 before that, working homicide."

"You've got the experience for it."

He gave her a shy smile. "The PR aspect is new to me. We really have to be squeaky clean. It's like working under a microscope sometimes." Sandwiches finished, he picked up both plates and carried them to the sink. She followed him and wrapped her arms around his torso.

"We have a few hours yet before work," she said with a smile.

"Mmmm-hmmm," he agreed. He turned and wrapped his arms around her, then kissed her hard and deep. She arched against him and her hands slipped down his backside.

"So sexy," she heard him say, before she felt him slip her robe off her body. She moaned with pleasure as his kisses moved south.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

He heard her sigh and was instantly alert. Bobby stretched out his hand, reaching for his crutches. "Alex?" He said as he scrambled to get to his feet. He moved clumsily, but he managed not to fall. Bobby was at her side in two strokes with the crutches. "Alex?" he repeated.

She opened her eyes and looked around, then settled on his face. "Where? Hospital?"

He nodded.

"How'd I get here?"

He grinned at her. "Long story. I had to call an ambulance." He brushed her hair back away from her eyes. "It's good you're awake," he said. "It means you're getting better." He took her hand in his. "How are you feeling?"

"I have a headache," she complained. "I'm thirsty, too. Can I have a drink?"

He hobbled to the pitcher on the table and poured some water into a cup. Then he found a straw to put in it and helped her get a drink.

"Bobby, your leg," she said quietly.

"I'm doing fine."

* * *

Two days later, Lewis drove them home. Alex got the door, and Bobby limped in on his crutches, then Lewis followed, carrying a bag of items from the hospital.

"Lewis, stay for dinner. I'll get a pizza."

"Got a beer to go with that pizza?" He asked.

"Sure."

"Slow and easy, Alex," Bobby told her as he watched her settle in on the couch.

She waved a hand in the air, dismissing him. Bobby pulled his phone out of his pocket and called for pizza. Then he settled in beside Alex on the couch, easily dropping an arm around her. "I've been waiting a long time to do that," he said, smiling at her.

Lewis flopped into the recliner. "I hope you two are done with all this drama. You're wearing me out," he complained. "How about let's have a nice seven or eight months of boring-ness and then have a wedding, all right? I'll even be your best man."

Bobby grinned at Alex. "I didn't even have to ask him."

"It's a deal, Lewis," Alex called out. Her phone rang. She couldn't reach it, so Lewis found it in her coat pocket on the other side of the room. He handed it to her and headed for the fridge.

"Eames," she said. "Hey Mike. Yeah, c'mon over. We're getting a pizza."

"Tell him to pick up some beer," Lewis called, "You're almost out."

"Mike, get us some beer, okay? Thanks."

In an hour, the four friends were sharing a pizza and a few laughs. "Make sure you invite Ed to the wedding," Mike said. "Him and Meredith."

"Meredith?" Alex asked. "Who's Meredith?"

Logan got a grin a mile wide. "Oh, you don't know. Meredith went to China with him. They've had a thing going, ever since."

"Oh, this I gotta hear," Alex said. She tossed her plate on the coffee table and leaned against Bobby's chest.

"Meredith Shu works with the gang unit. She speaks fluent Chinese, so she got sent over to help out Green and Daniels when they were chasing down the crew from the Bellflower. I guess they had a little pleasure on their business trip."

"Anyway, the Chinese authorities kept most of the crewmen when the treasure ship pulled into Shanghai. I guess they'd sold something originally owned by China and they shouldn't have. We extradited three, Hui and Jin Chang and Kenny Song."

"Kenny's working with the Feds, so his people got him out. Jin Chang confessed to killing Lin, his Dad's going to get him a good lawyer and the DA's office is going easy on him since they saved your life, Bobby." Logan drank a swig of his beer. "Anyway, back to Ed and Meredith…"

Bobby drank his beer, the first he'd had since his release from the hospital. He leaned his head down and kissed the crown of Alex's head. She snuggled a little closer. Even now, she responded to his every move. He tuned in to Logan's story and was simply happy. He had his treasure, right here in this room.

THE END

* * *

A/N Thanks so much for reading. I'd love to hear what you thought of it, especially the stuff you liked!


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